


Meant To Be

by jess (jess_m)



Series: All of Time and Space [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Awesome Donna Noble, BAMF Donna, BAMF Martha, Donna is Donna, F/M, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, POV Third Person Limited, Regeneration, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Tenth Doctor Era, Time Lord Donna Noble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-02-28 01:51:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 245,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13261116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jess_m/pseuds/jess
Summary: One day, a young woman meets the Doctor and leaves her ordinary life to travel with him throughout the universe. It's a story told time and time again with various new faces being at the center of it. The trick is, they can't fall in love. Ariel Parsons did that trick a lot. Sometimes twice a day, but what happens when she falls for the mysterious man and has to tell him her biggest secrets? Secrets that had been safe all her life, until the day she met the Doctor.





	1. The Strange Man

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Doctor Who. I do not own the "the trick is don't fall in love. I do that trick a lot sometimes twice a day" in the summary, I got that from my favorite Doctor who prequel: She Said, He Said, which you can watch here if you haven't seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtaIpkjF6Ss I only own characters not found in the show and plot lines not displayed in the series. Enjoy!

The school bell rang loudly along the hallways alerting each student in the building of their freedom from their seven hour long prison.

Dozens of teenagers flooded the corridor and at the very end of it stood Ariel Parsons, shuffling her large books in her small arms before trudging out with the others.

She brushed her short brown hair behind her ear and tried to stay hidden in the crowd as she marched out to the front gates of the school to begin her journey home.

Desperate to tune out the loud chaos of the rowdy teenagers, she plugged in her earphones and turned the volume up as loud as possible.

Ariel had never fit in with any of the ther kids in her class. Her mother liked to claim it was because she was an old soul, but Ariel honestly just never saw the point in getting loud and being as unruly as they were. There were much simpler ways to be happy, and they never seemed to realize that.

Sure, her strange interests made her stand apart from from the crowd and left everyone wary of her, unwilling to become her friend, but she had never preferred the way they have fun to her own.

Sometimes the simple things in life were the best.

She changed the song on her phone, her attention momentarily diverted.

That was just enough time he needed to land directly in front of her path.

The loud wheezing filled the street. It was enough to make anyone look up with, at the very least, a small confused frown. That would be if the only person on the street had been able to hear the wheezing.

Ariel clicked on another Frank Sinatra song to flood her eardrums and looked up just in time to walk right into a large blue police box.

She jumped back and groaned, clutching her head in pain. She rubbed her forehead roughly and tugged her earbuds out of her ears, looking up at the blue box with a small frown.

“What the hell?” She breathed.

The door on the left side of the box creaked as it swung open and a very concerned looking man jumped out.

His messy brown hair seemed to have a mind of its own as it pointed in each direction, defying gravity and appearing in dire need of a comb simultaneously. He wore a long brown coat that reached down to his feet like something a detective in an old novel would wear. Underneath the coat he had on a bright blue suit and a striped tie. Ariel looked down and fought back laughter at the sight of his shoes. While everything on the mysterious man appeared to wear the demeanor of sophisticated and ancient, his ratty Converses made him look like a lost uni student in desperate need of a map reference.

She met his eyes and was almost taken aback by how old they made him look. His eyes appeared worn down, tired, but curious nonetheless. The man looked like he had seen far too much ugly and bad in the world, but still was curious and anxious to see what else he could learn in the slim hope that he would see some good. His eyes made him look almost elderly but his body didn’t wear the age. His body made him look like he might be in his early to mid thirties.

With a start, Ariel realized that the man had been staring at her the whole time she was studying him, almost appearing bemused by her fascination.

“Why, hello there!” The man exclaimed delightfully. He had a lighthearted London accent that made Ariel smile softly. It had been a while since her ears had the pleasure of meeting another London accent.

“Hi,” Ariel mumbled, barely speaking above a whisper.

“I hate to bother you, but do you mind telling me where I am?” The man requested, closing the creaking door of the box behind him and stepping out toward her.

Ariel frowned, confused by what the man was asking.

“You don’t know where you are?” She prompted. This man’s personality was seeming to be just as strange as his attire and the magically appearing blue box he stepped out of.

“Afraid not,” the man shrugged. “But you seem like you’re from around here so would you care to enlighten me?”

“I’m not,” Ariel muttered, keeping her eyes fixated on the ground as she was far too nervous to meet the confident man’s warm gaze.

“Sorry?” He implored with a gently raised eyebrow.

“I’m not from around here. I’m from Winchester,” Ariel sighed.

“Ah,” the man nodded in understanding, looking at his surroundings with a frown. “And we’re in?”

“Edinburgh.”

The man’s eyes widened in understanding, glancing around at his surroundings as though the vacant street would confirm her words. With a soft sigh, turned his attention back down to the woman shifting uncomfortably in front of him.

“What’s a Winchester girl like yourself doing in a place like Edinburgh?” He wondered.

“Mum got a job,” Ariel shrugged. “It’s rubbish, but she forced us to move here last month.”

“And I take it you’re not very fond of Edinburgh?” The man guessed, watching her steadily with amused eyes.

Ariel sighed. “I don’t exactly like it, no.”

“Well, have you told your mother this?”

“Only a hundred times,” Ariel smiled softly. “She won’t listen. She says it’s a good opportunity to make it big.” Her eyes widened and she looked up at the man. For some reason she felt the need to tell him everything about herself. She didn’t know what it was, but she felt some sort of magnetic field drawing her to the mysterious man. She didn’t even know his name and yet she was ready and willing to sit down and tell him her life story.

She took a step back and met him with uneasy eyes.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Doctor,” the man greeted kindly, holding out a hand for her to shake. “And you are?”

Ariel ignored his attempt at formality and took another step back, shaking her head. “Doctor who?” She frowned.

The man just chuckled and used his outstretched hand to itch the back of his head anxiously. “That’s it. Just the Doctor,” he shrugged.

“Your name is the Doctor?”

“Yep,” he smiled softly. “That’s me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, why not?” He wondered innocently, his tired face falling into that of a childlike curiosity.

“Nobody’s called the Doctor. That’s just a strange name for a mother to give her child.”

“Why is that?”

“Because that’s forcing a career on her baby. That’s like naming your child Prime Minister when more than anything they want to be a writer.”

“I like to think of it as a way of life. Doctor’s aren’t cruel. They don’t shy away from what needs to be done and they’re sworn never to injure another living being.”

Ariel frowned and thought over his words for a moment. “I suppose that’s a bit better,” she shrugged. “So, you’re really called the Doctor?”

“That’s me,” he beamed.

“Okay, then,” Ariel hesitated, still wary of the man but willing to accept his strange demeanor. She held out her hand. “I’m Ariel Parsons.”

“Ah, Ariel. Like the mermaid,” the Doctor grinned.

“Yeah, you have no idea how many times I heard _that_ growing up,” Ariel moaned.

“All too often I’d imagine,” the Doctor chuckled and she nodded firmly.

Ariel was fascinated by the man, though odd, he seemed kind and warm-hearted. She realized that she’d like to know a lot more about the man and felt herself being drawn towards him like he was the main character in a novel ready to embark on a daring adventure and she was the plucky young sidekick he needed by his side to keep him alive.

“How did you get here?” Ariel wondered. She remembered seeing him walk out of the blue box that had magically appeared in the middle of the pavement, but she knew full well that before she had looked away there had been no blue box in her path.

“Would you like to see?” The Doctor asked with a knowing smirk.

“Is this just some clever attempt to get me into the back of some old van and kidnap me?” Ariel blurted aloud and the Doctor laughed before shaking his hand.

“Trust me, you’ll enjoy this,” the Doctor promised before holding out his hand.

Ariel hesitated before nodding and grabbing his hand.

He guided her towards the blue box that, once they had walked around to the front, Ariel saw it was a police call box. Like the ones she had seen pictures of in her history books. She frowned at the box and the man standing before it, desperately trying to get it to unlock with one hand.

Once he finally achieved his goal, he let out a soft sigh and pushed the door open gently. It creaked loudly despite only being open a small crack.

The Doctor turned to Ariel with a sloppy grin. “Ladies first,” he said politely, gesturing for her to walk in front of him.

Ariel narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s just a police box.”

“Would you like to see that for yourself?” The Doctor asked, still smirking at her as though he knew the answer to every question he posed but couldn't help finding the fun in asking anyway.

Ariel was still confused and felt a million questions swirl around on the tip of her tongue, but they all died the second she saw a bright light beaming in from the door. She frowned and pushed the door open wider.

The interior of the box was much larger than the exterior.

Bright lights flickered across the interior and she tiptoed across the metal walkway leading towards the huge console chugging along, fueling the machine around her.

She felt like her breath had been stolen from her chest.

Ariel spun around the machine, wonderstruck by the beautiful lights and she turned back to the Doctor, who was beaming at her from the entrance.

“What is this?” She asked breathlessly.

“I call her the Tardis. Stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.”

“So, that’s how you got here out of nowhere,” Ariel concluded with a nod. “This. She can travel and take you places.”

“Yep,” the Doctor grinned and nodded to the machine. He bounced into the Tardis, loudly jumping on the metal walkway. “She can take you anywhere in all of time and space, and she’s all mine.”

“Anywhere in time and space?” Ariel repeated with large eyes.

“Anywhere,” the Doctor confirmed with a smile.

“How is this possible?” Ariel wondered. “Is it magic? Like Harry Potter?”

The Doctor chuckled. “No, not magic. Alien,” he corrected.

“You own an alien ship? How did you get one?”

“I am one.”

Ariel’s eyes widened and her heart stopped. “You’re an alien? Wha-How? Where from?”

“I’m from a planet called Gallifrey. I’m a Time Lord.”

“You look human,” Ariel remarked, admiring his handsome physique for a moment.

“You look Time Lord,” the Doctor retorted. “We came first.”

Ariel nodded in understanding and glanced back at the still open door, trying to give her mind time to process all the information he was bombarding her with.

“So, if you’re from another planet, why did you come here? We can’t possibly be more interesting than an alien planet.”

“Believe me, if you were from Gallifrey, you would be saying the same thing about anyone going there. It was gorgeous but it was mind-numbingly dull.”

Ariel chuckled and nodded, understanding the feeling completely.

However, as her smile fell, there was still a question itching in the back of her mind that had yet to be answered.

“But, why here? Why now? If you’ve got all of time and space why would you choose this moment?”

“That is something I have yet to discover,” the Doctor replied honestly. 

“What do you mean?” Ariel frowned.

“The Tardis brought me here. Some sort of immediate danger that I need to help with, but I can’t exactly work out what. As far as I can tell there’s not much around here other than a couple houses.”

“There’s the secondary school.”

“What?” The Doctor turned with furrowed eyebrows.

“School just let out. It’s right around the corner. I can show you if you want.”

“That would be brilliant,” the Doctor beamed. He grabbed a small metallic object with a blue light on the end off the console, simultaneously lighting up another question in Ariel’s mind.

“What is that?” She asked, gesturing to the object as she walked out of the Tardis with the Doctor and he closed the door behind them.

“What? Ah, this is my sonic screwdriver. It scans the area. It’ll tell us what’s in the area, opens anything we may need to get into and so on.”

“So, it’s like a magic wand?” Ariel smirked.

“Sort of, but not really.”

“Close enough,” Ariel shrugged. “So what do you think is gonna be at the school? Do you think there could be danger?”

“Could be. I hope not, but I never know these days.”

“So, what? You just fly around all of time and space stopping danger and saving people?”

“That’s the job,” he nodded.

“Do you ever have anybody helping you? Like a John Watson to your Sherlock Holmes?”

The Doctor chuckled before sighing softly. “I used to. Martha, her name was. Martha Jones. And she, well she fancied me.”

Ariel giggled. “Mad Martha that one. Falling in love with an alien.”

The Doctor smiled softly at the young woman as they turned the corner. “So, you never finished saying. What really brought you here?”

“My Mum used to write for this paper in Winchester. It was a small town sort of thing, but she was pretty good at it. She loved interacting with people and helping them share their stories with the world. She was so good at it that a big paper round here rang her up and offered her a job. Much more pay. Enough to get us out of our tiny little flat and up here in the bigger cities. I didn’t want to move, but she didn’t really give me a choice.”

“What about your father?” The Doctor frowned. “Did he get any say in this?”

“My father’s dead,” Ariel said blunty and the Doctor froze.

“I’m so sorry, I-.”

“No, it’s alright. He died when I was a kid. Car accident. It doesn’t affect me too much now, but it ruined my mum. She threw herself into her work and stopped listening to other people’s opinions on what was best. She thought she was some sort of all knowing goddess. She didn’t even care about what her daughter thought,” Ariel mumbled, kicking a small stone by her foot.

Before the Doctor could respond, they reached the large open gates of her school.

“Ah, here we are,” Ariel announced.

The school was deserted despite it having only been less than an hour since school let out.

Everyone was desperate to leave.

Even Ariel herself was slightly disappointed at her rapid return to the school.

They headed inside and silently marched through the corridors, looking through the emptiness to find some sign of something out of place.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and began to scan the area. They walked around, silent as mice while listening to the noisy whir of the screwdriver for some indication that something was wrong.

Just when he began to lower it, giving up hope that something might be there, a loud beeping echoed on his screwdriver.

The Doctor and Ariel both looked up at it mirroring the same expression of frozen shock.

“That’s not good is it?” Ariel prompted, her voice barely above a whisper as she spoke, almost wary of what might hear her.

The Doctor took a deep breath and shook his head before firmly gripping his sonic and charging forward preparing himself for whatever battle he must fight.

Ariel almost wanted to grip his large brown coat and cower behind it in fear like a small child, but she knew as she looked up at the Doctor that backing away wasn’t an option. She had to be brave because the other option wasn’t allowed.

They tiptoed down the corridor and heard a loud robotic voice yelling from the very end of the corridor.

“That’s the head teacher’s office,” Ariel breathed.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he grabbed Ariel’s hand, pulling her away from the window on the door of the office. He moved her so she was right behind him, safe from harm’s way as he peered into the office.

Inside he saw a balding man with blonde hair in a very formal suit looking horrified and frozen in terror at was laid before him.

The Doctor moved slightly to see what the head teacher was staring at and his heart stopped at the sight.

There in the middle of the office sat a Dalek pointing it’s weapon straight into the face of the old man.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and moved away from the door to Ariel’s confusion.

“What?” She breathed. “What is it?”

“Stay quiet, we need to listen,” the Doctor instructed, pressing a finger to his lips.

Ariel nodded and the Doctor pressed his ear against the wall.

“You will do as we command,” the Dalek said in it’s angry robotic voice.

“I can’t. I can’t let you have the kids. I can’t do it,” the dying man cried.

“Then you will die a fool,” the Dalek said simply.

“No,” Ariel breathed.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand. “Don’t,” he warned. The old Time Lord had far too much experience with humans and their reckless behavior to know Ariel was ready to scream or run in there not only revealing themselves to the Dalek but getting herself killed in the process.

“No, no, please don’t kill me. I have a wife. I have kids. Please.”

“Then you will give up the children or yours will die in their place,” the Dalek replied coldly.

“No, no, please don’t kill them. You can have the kids. All of ‘em. Every last one. Just don’t hurt my daughters.”

“Something doesn’t add up,” the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel raised an eyebrow.

“If the Daleks wanted the kids in the school they would just take them. They wouldn’t ask the permission of the head teacher. They would just take them. And even if they’re in need of children, why these specific children?”

“I don’t know,” Ariel frowned.

“You must give us access to their locations.”

“Yes, yes, just take it all,” the man begged, spinning his laptop so the Dalek could place it’s plunger on the screen and download all the information.

Once it had finished the download, it backed away from the desk and the head teacher wiped his sweat stained brow as he slowly pulled his laptop away, cautiously watching each and every movement the Dalek made.

“Sending files to Dalek ship. Sending.”

“Right, your little buddies got the information. So, you can just-you can just leave us alone, yeah?” The head teacher said.

The Doctor winced. He knew all too well what the Dalek planned to do and it wasn’t keeping the head teacher safe.

A battle tore out against himself. Part of him knew he should save the head teacher, but the older much wiser and reasonable part knew he should wait it out to see how many Daleks were actually there.

If one Dalek saw him and there were millions in the ship just waiting to attack, his life would be over before he could even get two words in.

“Thank you for your compliance,” the Dalek said before shooting the man directly in the chest.

The head teacher let out one last dying scream before falling off his chair and onto the ground with a thud.

The Dalek disappeared from the room without another word. Most likely, teleporting back to the ship.

The Doctor closed his eyes solemnly in regret and turned back to Ariel to see her with both hands over her mouth and eyes wide appearing as though she may throw up, scream, or burst into tears.

“It killed him,” Ariel gasped.

“I know,” the Doctor nodded and pulled Ariel to his chest, rubbing her back as she tried to comprehend what she just heard. “There was nothing we could do. If we had walked in there, it would’ve just killed all three of us.”

Ariel nodded, sniffing softly as she grabbed a fistful of his suit. “What was it? What killed him?”

“It’s called a Dalek,” the Doctor said. He pulled Ariel away and placed his hands on her shoulders, gazing intently into her stormy grey eyes, needing to make sure she was listening closely despite witnessing the death of her head teacher.

“They’re a warrior race. The the most brutal warrior race. They’re genetically engineered to feel nothing but hatred and despise everything that isn’t them.”

“Then why do they want the kids at this school?” Ariel wondered with a small frown.

“That’s what I’m going to find out,” the Doctor mumbled. “Thanks for your help but you should get back home to your mother. I believe she’ll probably be wondering where you are by now.” 

He gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder before straightening and heading down the corridor, away from her. Ariel frowned and stared at the floor, her mind racing as she not only tried to process everything she had just seen and learned in those few hours alone, but what would happen next. With a sigh she knew that this was one of those moments in novels where the main character either decides to embark on what is sure to be one of the greatest adventures of their life, or just go home and never experience anything truly extraordinary again. She took a deep breath and turned to the Doctor's receding form. She wanted to travel with this man. Whatever it took and whatever she had to risk she knew that she wanted to see all that the universe had to offer her.

“Now, hold on a minute!” Ariel snapped. “You can’t just leave after I’ve witnessed all that!”

“I’m not going to leave. Not yet anyway. I’m going to go up to that ship and stop them from doing whatever they plan on with all your classmates.”

“Then, you’re going to leave,” Ariel nodded.

“Well,” the Doctor sighed.

“No,” Ariel shook her head.

“Pardon?” The Doctor prompted.

“I don’t want to just go home back to that ordinary life after meeting you. No, I want to see what’s out there.”

“Really?” The Doctor smirked.

“Yeah, I’m tired of just living this quiet little life. Now that I know there’s more out there. I wanna see it,” Ariel smiled. “Besides, you said it yourself. You used to travel with someone and she left. I believe you’re in need of a new John Watson.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep,” Ariel nodded, beaming at him.

The Doctor grinned. “Well then, Miss Ariel Parsons, let’s go save your school,” he said, holding out his hand for her.

She took his hand and smiled up at him before the pair took off running down the corridor back to the Tardis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 4 April 2018


	2. Ariel and the Tardis

Ariel let her feet dangle outside the Tardis giggling happily as she stared down at her home planet while the Doctor frowned and scratched his head at the screen before him.

“This just doesn’t make sense,” the Doctor muttered. “What would the Daleks want with some teenagers? They don’t exactly like humanity.”

“Well, maybe they just want some slave labor,” Ariel shrugged. “Y’know, people to just do all the dirty work for them.”

“They did have some pig slaves last I saw them,” the Doctor mumbled., narrowing his eyes at the screen. “Maybe, they’re looking to restock.”

“Maybe, instead of pigs they’re looking for healthy athletic kids. People in the prime of their lives with their whole future before them. People with a lot of potential.”

“Potential,” the Doctor hummed. “That’s it. They don’t _just_ need slaves, they need the future of those slaves. If you planned to take over Earth, what would you do to make sure you were virtually unstoppable?”

“Get rid of the people who would stop me,” Ariel shrugged simply. That was rule number one with every great villain. They always had to get rid of the people who would foil their plans. Often, it was the hero who stopped them before they got a chance.

“Exactly!” He exclaimed. “They already know I would try to stop them, that’s a given. But humanity is strong it perseveres. It resists. So, if they could take away the people with the potential to wipe them out, they’d have an easy win.”

“But that means they’re targeting other people. Not just the school,” Ariel realized with a nod.

“That’s right. They’re probably just using the young ones for slave labor like you said, but the others,” he trailed off.

“The others are dead,” Ariel breathed with wide eyes.

The Doctor nodded. “I have to stop them.”

“But how?” Ariel wondered. “That Dalek said it was sending the information to the ship. We have no idea how many Daleks are on that ship.”

“Which is exactly why _we_ won’t be going on the ship.”

“What?” Ariel frowned.

“We’re going to take them out without them even knowing we’re here.”

“You’re going to destroy the ship?” Ariel guessed.

“Nope. We don’t kill people.”

“But they’re not people, are they?” Ariel assumed. She dreaded to think what could be under all those layers of metal and armour.

“Everyone is a person. No matter how much evil they’ve put out into the world, they deserve another chance,” the Doctor said.

“But you said it yourself. All they can feel is hate,”  Ariel reminded him. “How would another chance for them end in anything but more death?”

“You’d be surprised,” the Doctor mumbled as he pulled the screen closer to him and began typing. “I once met a Dalek who wanted nothing more than to feel the sunlight.”

Ariel frowned at the strange idea but shook her head nonetheless and turned away. She let out a shuddering breath and closed her eyes momentarily.

“His name was William Baxter,” she mumbled.

“What?” The Doctor frowned, looking at her and away from the screen for a second.

“The head teacher. Mister Baxter. The other kids called him Mister Baxxy. He had two daughters, eight and ten, and a wife. They’re probably all dead now aren’t they?”

The Doctor just looked down solemnly. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s alright,” Ariel sighed and shook her head. “I hardly knew him. I only saw his daughters once when I was leaving class, but,” she hesitated. “It’s weird knowing I won’t ever see him walking around the corridors everyday. How do you do this?”

“Do what?”

“How do you cope with seeing people die? It’s not very easy,” Ariel mumbled.

“I never-.”

“Oh, come on. I can see it in your eyes. They’re ancient. You’ve seen things and I don’t believe all of them were pretty.”

The Doctor sighed softly and turned back to the screen. “I don’t,” he muttered.

Ariel nodded in understanding and glanced back at the starry sky just outside their doors. “It is rather beautiful though, isn’t it?” She said, smiling softly at the sky. “I suppose that makes up for all the death you have to see. All the beauty of the universe.”

The Doctor smiled and watched Ariel carefully. “It does,” he mumbled.

Ariel turned back to him and the Doctor immediately swung his head back to the screen and continued typing.

“So, if you’re not going to blow them up what are you going to do?” Ariel wondered.

“I’m going to knock out their satellites and defense systems then when they can’t hurt us, I’m going to go on board while you stay in here. I’ll threaten to wipe out all their systems and leave them dead in the air if they don’t leave the Earth and all its people.”

“Hold on, why am I staying in here?” Ariel asked.

“I’m not going to risk your life when we still don’t know how many Daleks are on board,” the Doctor replied simply.

“Oh, and your life is just up for grabs then?” Ariel retorted.

“I’ve been alive for just over 900 years, you’ve been alive for barely nineteen. I think it’s safe to say if one of us has to go, it should be me.”

“No, but you’re the one who saves people. You said it yourself you save people across all of time and space and I’m just some student who knows nothing about aliens or how to even operate this ship. You’re way more important than me.”

The Doctor smiled wistfully. “Ariel Parsons, you are far more important than you believe.”

Before Ariel could respond, there was a loud mechanical beep from the screen and both the Doctor and Ariel turned their attention to it.

The screen was filled with spinning circles and lines that Ariel couldn’t understand but the Doctor seemed to draw all that he needed from it.

He nodded and took a deep breath, picking up his sonic and heading to his coat to pull it on.

“What am I supposed to do while you’re out there?” Ariel wondered.

“Stay safe,” the Doctor nodded with a small smile. “Take care of her,” he said loudly. The Tardis whirred mechanically.

Ariel grinned. “I’ll take care of the Tardis.”

“Oh, I wasn’t talking to you,” the Doctor frowned. He turned to the Tardis wall and smiled, patting it gently. “Take care of her. I’ll be back soon.”

Ariel rolled her eyes and turned around as he walked out the door and it creaked loudly before closing.

“So,” Ariel sighed as she collapsed into the jumpseat. “Hello,” she gave a short wave to the center of the console. “I’m Ariel Parsons.”

The console made noises that sounded vaguely like robotic laughter.

“Are you laughing?!” Ariel exclaimed. “You are, aren’t you? Well, I’m sorry, I’ve never talked to a ship before. I don’t really know what to talk about,” she mumbled with a small shrug.

She glanced back at the door, silently wondering if the Doctor needed her help and she should just walk out there after him. She heard a loud robotic voice shout  _Doctor!_ and she turned to it with large eyes. She shouldn't have given in and ultimately let him go off on his own. In the end, the first chance she had to save the day she turned out to be a coward like she always was. She was in year 12 and she couldn't even raise her hand in class without growing anxious and wary of what others might think of her. She hoped traveling with the Doctor could change that somehow, but this experience alone proved to her that she had to take the initiative if she was ever going to see some change.

As if reading her mind, the Tardis screen flickered on and within seconds she was met with the Doctor standing before dozens of Daleks just like the one they had seen in Mister Baxter’s office. It wasn't an armada which was nice to know but there still seemed to be a few hundred talking to him.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she jumped up to get a closer look at the Doctor. While she couldn’t hear what they were saying it was nice to know that he was still alive and seemingly okay.

“I feel sort of useless just sitting here. Did he do this with Martha?  Did he make her just sit there?” Ariel wondered. “I mean, sure, I know why he does it but next time I should put up an actual fight on going with him. I mean honestly I’m pathetic I just keeled over and let him do what he wanted.”

Ariel sighed loudly and began to pace the floor. “Were there others beyond Martha?” Ariel asked. “Like, did he travel with other girls? Particularly girls that had crushes on him,” Ariel winced at the very idea, though unsure why. She had just met the man. Sure, he was attractive and radiated confidence beyond anything she had seen before in the idiots her own age but she still barely knew the man.

The Tardis laughed and Ariel spun around with furrowed eyebrows. “Is that a yes?”

The screen flickered and then began flicking through dozens of pictures of women that had traveled with the Doctor.

“Are you kidding me?!” Ariel exclaimed as the Tardis seemed to be flying through pictures of countless women. She was sure he had traveled with more women than she even knew of. “All of them?! Well, that just seems selfish,” Ariel hummed, but the Tardis continued to show her pictures. “Are these from the bloody 60’s?! And is that a leather bikini?!”

Just then the door creaked open and the Doctor’s eyes widened when he saw Ariel’s eyes fixated on the small screen which was rifling through all the previous Tardis inhabitants.

“No, no, no, no!” The Doctor exclaimed. “I told you to take care of her! Not show her everyone who’s ever lived here!”

Ariel snorted and spun around as the Tardis continued to flicker through the images.

“Nine-hundred years hasn’t stopped you in the slightest has it?” Ariel smirked. “Did you take care of the Daleks?”

“As well as I could. They weren’t willing to leave so I knocked out their teleport and send them falling into dead space.”

“How’d you do that?” Ariel wondered.

“I used the sonic and took control of their navigation. Once they were on a dead set course, I said goodbye and headed back in here,” he shrugged.

“That’s brilliant,” Ariel remarked as she collapsed back onto the jumpseat.

“It was a bandaid. They’ll be back sometime, and then I’ll figure out what to do. I wasn’t ready to stoop to killing them right yet. Not until it’s the only solution.”

“You’re a good man,” Ariel said with a small nod.

“Am I?” The Doctor mumbled, speaking mostly to himself but Ariel nodded.

“You are. Or at least you try to be, and even if you’re not a good man, that still counts more than anything.”

The Doctor smirked. “Why thank you, Ariel Parsons.”

“You’re welcome,” Ariel grinned. She jumped up and stood by the Doctor’s side, clutching the console as she rocked back and forth. “So, how exactly does this work? Do you have to take me home now and pick me up whenever you feel like traveling with somebody?”

“Not exactly,” the Doctor smiled.

“Then what?” Ariel wondered.

“You can go home whenever you like, just say the word. But until that time comes, you can travel with me for as long as you want.”

“Seriously?” Ariel frowned.

“Seriously,” the Doctor nodded.

“No restrictions, no boundaries. Just you and me traveling?”

“Yep,” the Doctor nodded. “Well, I say no boundaries,” he hesitated. “There are a few rules.”

“What? No feet on the console or something?” Ariel chuckled. “No chocolate after 9:30?”

“Just,” the Doctor sighed, clearly amused but trying to be professional. “Don’t wander off. You’ll see a lot of things that hate humans and wandering off could end up being very dangerous.”

“Got it,” Ariel nodded. “But does that mean I’ll be allowed out in the future?” She grinned expectantly.

The Doctor chuckled. “Yes, I just don’t exactly love the thought of this being your first time out with me and you already have to face the Daleks. Their place in the universe,” he shook his head. “It’s so much worse than what you could see. Your first adventure shouldn’t be them.”

Ariel grinned up at him. “Then what should it be?”

The Doctor beamed at her and held out his hand. “Would you like to see?”

Ariel smiled and nodded, taking his hand as the Doctor pulled the lever on the console and sent them flying into space.

“Allons-y!” The Doctor exclaimed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 5 April 2018


	3. Adipose Industries

**Two Weeks Later**

A loud wheezing noise flooded the London streets but with the hustle and bustle of daily life, no one bothered to stop and look at the large blue box that entered the streets.

The door creaked loudly and a man in a large brown coat and brown suit stepped out and to the side before extending his hand to a woman with her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, save many loose strands, in a striped turtleneck and suede skirt. She giggled loudly and took his hand, closing the door behind her as they headed down the street.

“So, what is this business of aliens?” Ariel wondered as they headed down the street together.

Over the past two weeks she had been unwilling to leave his side for a moment. Though there were times when she did grow wary and attempted to hide away in the Tardis, more often than not, he had brought her into his world and put cracks in the shell she had been hiding her whole life.

He had brought her to dozens of planets in just a few weeks and she had seen all sorts of different life forms.

However, everywhere the Doctor went, trouble seemed to follow. Everytime he took her to a planet for its beauty or to just go sightseeing, there would always be some sort of danger that they had to help end.

Regardless, she enjoyed every second she had with him. She knew she should go home, but she didn’t want any of it to end. It felt like she was in one of her favorite novels, and she couldn't just leave in the beginning of the story.

“Adipose Industries,” the Doctor announced loudly. “Though the name could just be a coincidence, we’re here to make sure they aren’t actually an industry doesn’t have baby adipose from the nursing planet.”

“If they do, then that’s completely disgusting.”

“You’re not wrong there.”

They marched down the streets of London until they reached a tall building with lots of windows, looming over the city with the sign ‘Adipose Industries’ out front.

“Ready?” The Doctor prompted.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Ariel grinned.

They headed around to the back of the building until they reached the fire escape.

The Doctor soniced the fire escape open and waved Ariel forwards with a small smile. “Ladies first,” he nodded.

“Why thank you, Ser Doctor,” Ariel giggled. “Wait, are you actually a Ser? Because I can totally see it,” she remarked as she began to climb down to the basement.

The Doctor climbed after her and closed the fire escape behind them. “Yeah, I got knighted with Rose.”

“The girl you traveled with after the war?” Ariel remembered. He had told her general details about his life. She knew one day he might go into more detail once he trusted her more, but for that moment she knew enough about him that she would be willing to travel with him for a while without feeling uncomfortable. Ariel guessed he did that with most of his former companions so they wouldn’t be running across all of time and space with a man they barely knew.

Ariel never bothered to ask what had happened to the people he used to travel with. She knew Martha left him, but she wasn’t willing to implore into what fate the others could’ve possibly met. She had seen how dangerous the Doctor’s life could be and if the shoe had been on the other foot, she wouldn’t like him asking about her dead friends.

“Yep, I’m officially Ser Doctor of the Tardis,” he beamed. “I was knighted by Queen Victoria herself.”

“Queen Victoria?!” Ariel exclaimed before slipping on the steps and gripping the railing tightly as the Doctor held her back so she could regain her balance.

“Careful there,” the Doctor chuckled. “Fan of Queen Victoria are you?”

“Only the biggest,” Ariel blushed. “I love her. She’s the pinnacle of the British monarchy. She shaped the Great Britain and everything about it today.”

“Yeah, she exiled me,” the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she hopped off the steps and moved to the side as the Doctor soniced open the door to the basement.

She eyed him momentarily before sighing softly and nodding.

“I believe it,” she said before heading inside.

The Doctor frowned as he followed her, closing the door behind them. “Was that meant to be rude because I think she only exiled me because I’m an alien if I’m being honest here.”

“Was this before or after Albert died?” Ariel asked.

“After,” the Doctor said.

“Then you should know full well she was never really happy after Albert died. If you had met her when Albert was alive and they were together I guarantee she would’ve been more open-minded.”

“You think so?” The Doctor frowned.

“Then again, you’re you so maybe not,” Ariel shrugged.

“Oi!” The Doctor exclaimed.

Ariel giggled just as a guard started to march past them.

The Doctor pulled out some identification and flashed it at the guard. “John Smith and Mary Johnson. Health and Safety.”

The guard nodded, not bothering to implore further and the pair continued on their way.

“Hang on, what was that?” Ariel frowned.

“What this?” He asked, pulling out the identification. “Here,” he said, handing it to her.

“This just has a bunch of squiggly lines,” Ariel muttered with a small frown. 

“It’s psychic paper. On the average person, it can show them whatever I want them to see. That guard thinks we’re health and safety because that’s what I wanted him to believe.”

“On the average person?” Ariel echoed with a smirk. “So, I’m not average?”

“Far from it,” the Doctor smiled as he put the psychic paper back in his coat and wrapped his arm around Ariel’s shoulders. “And that’s a good thing.”

“Okay, but why are our names Mary Johnson and John Smith? We can be anybody technically. You can choose whatever name you want.”

“Believe me, you don’t want to do that. I’ve had more than a few run ins with some names that stood out and they weren’t the good kind. Mary Johnson and John Smith blend in.”

“They’re dead ordinary,” Ariel mumbled.

“That’s the point," the Doctor nodded. "Boring and ordinary are safe.”

“Alright,” Ariel sighed.

They headed up the stairs to the main building and the Doctor flashed the psychic paper a few more times until they came across a sign that read ‘Lecture Hall’ and an arrow leading down the corridor.

“Come on,” the Doctor instructed. He grabbed her hand and took her through a door that opened up to a very tall staircase. “The projection room,” the Doctor smiled. “If we go to the lecture hall we stand out, but here,” he trailed off.

“Here we can hear what they’re doing without anybody knowing,” Ariel nodded. “Good plan.”

“Thanks,” the Doctor grinned.

They marched up the steps to the projection room and were happy to find it was empty, save for the video playing back loudly, streaming out into the lecture hall below.

The Doctor closed the door behind them and pulled out two stools for them to sit on. Ariel nodded her thanks and they both sat down to watch what unveiled below.

A short young woman with a blonde pixie cut and small glasses making her look like a professional woman that would fire anyone in a heartbeat, no matter their families stood on a stage in the lecture hall, speaking to a small audience.

“Adipose Industries, the twenty first century way to lose weight. No exercise, no diet, no pain. Just lifelong freedom from fat. The Holy Grail of the modern age. And here it is. You just take one capsule. One capsule, once a day for three weeks, and the fat, as they say,” she said calmly, stepping to the side as the film changed and showed the Adipose Industries logo and its slogan below which the narrator immediately read.

“The fat just walks away,” the narrator of the film said loudly.

A young woman in the audience piped up, raising her hand as though she were in a classroom. Ariel only saw the back of her head as she spoke but she had dark curly hair and a soft spoken London accent.

“Excuse me, Miss Foster. If I could? I'm Penny Carter, science correspondent for The Observer. There are a thousand diet pills on the market, a thousand con men stealing people's money. How do we know the fat isn't going straight into your bank account?” The woman wondered.

Ariel smirked. The woman seemed smart, like her own mother, she seemed like a good person to have writing for articles that would influence millions.

“Oh, Penny, if cynicism burnt up calories, we'd all be as thin as rakes. But if you want the science, I can oblige,” the woman smiled harshly, clearly angry at Penny for interrupting her moment demonstrating something she was proud of.

She stepped to the side and the film took over, showing a diagram of a human body and the Adipose pill getting rid of the fat.

Ariel looked over and saw the Doctor pull out a pair of small brown glasses which he put on and narrowed his eyes at the diagram.

“If we had been in the lecture hall this wouldn’t be a problem,” Ariel reminded him with a small smile.

“Oh, you hush,” the Doctor muttered, a small smirk dancing on his lips.

“Adipose Industries. The Adipose capsule is composed of a synthesised mobilising lipase, bound to a large protein molecule,” the narrator explained. “The mobilising lipase breaks up the triglycerides stored in the adipose cells, which then enter-.”

Just then, the door opened loudly, hitting a shelf full of papers behind it as a tall man in a suit frowned at Ariel and the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed and pulled out his psychic paper. “Health and Safety,” he said like an old song he had grown tired of memorizing.

“Uh, film department,” Ariel corrected with a charming smile, shoving down the psychic paper.

The Doctor scrambled to get it back in his coat as he nodded along with Ariel and the man gave them an apprehensive look but nodded and closed the door.

“Health and safety, really?” Ariel prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah, I’ve said it so many times I didn’t think,” the Doctor shrugged.

“You are so lucky I was here to pull you out of that,” Ariel sighed.

“What would I do without you?” The Doctor grinned.

They both turned their attention back to the lecture simultaneously as the film cut out and the blonde woman took her place back center stage.

“One hundred percent legal, one hundred percent effective,” the woman assured the audience.

“But, can I just ask, how many people have taken the pills to date?” Penny asked, raising her hand once again.

“We've already got one million customers within the Greater London area alone, but from next week, we start rolling out nationwide. The future starts here. And Britain _will_ be thin.”

The Doctor and Ariel turned to each other at the same time with narrowed eyes.

“Does that sound suspicious or is it just me?” The Doctor mumbled.

“That’s suspicious,” Ariel nodded. “I don’t know if it’s the fact that they’re using the same science every weight loss pill has used or just this weird feeling I’m getting from that woman, but something doesn’t add up.”

“Agreed,” the Doctor said. He got up with a sigh and put his glasses back into his coat. “How about we check out these million customers and see what they have to say about the pill?”

“Another good plan, Ser Doctor,” Ariel remarked with a smile as she looped her arm through his.

The Doctor chuckled. “You’re never going to let that go are you?”

“Never,” she assured him with a firm nod.

They headed out and followed the signs guiding them straight to the call centre. As they walked, they debated the job and importance of the blonde woman.

“Do you think she knows she’s working with aliens?” Ariel wondered.

“Possibly,” the Doctor said. “She seemed confident enough and more than willing to direct the press away from any leading questions.”

“That means she’s gotta be pretty important," Ariel assumed. "I mean, if a business is running on stuff like this, they would only tell people they know they can trust about it, right? Tell the wrong person and they go to the press.”

“And then bye bye Adipose Industries.”

“Exactly,” Ariel nodded as they marched into the call centre.

They listened to the dozens of people at desks on phones with customers, but by the sound of it they were mostly cold calling. Ariel chuckled softly to herself and the Doctor grabbed her hand, guiding her to one of the nearby desks.

Behind it there was a woman in a blazer with her dark hair pulled back tightly as she spoke on the phone to a customer.

The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and flashed it to the woman as Ariel pulled out two chairs for them to sit in.

“John Smith, Mary Johnson, Health and Safety. Don’t mind us,” the Doctor mouthed as he took a seat.

The woman nodded politely and rolled backwards in her chair, fishing through her desk as she spoke.

“We deliver within three working days,” she said. She pulled out two long gold pendants and handed them to the Doctor and Ariel.

Ariel raised an eyebrow and they each took a pendant. It looked like a long gold plated Adipose pill which almost made Ariel laugh. Clearly, they were trying to expose people to the pill as much as possible and force them to fall in love with it.

“The box comes with 21 days worth of pills, a full information pack, and our special free gift, an Adipose Industries pendant. It's made of eighteen carat gold, and it's yours for free. No, we don't give away pens, sorry. No, I can't make an exception, no.”

Ariel snorted at the caller and the woman shrugged nonchalantly. It was times like those that Ariel was grateful she had never gotten a job in customer service.

The Doctor smirked as he twisted the gold pendant and Ariel just sighed at it. She held it up to him and gestured to the woman, silently asking if it would be alright if she gave hers back or if they would need it in the future and the Doctor simply nodded. For a nine hundred year old, he seemed in awe of the new toy he had uncovered. Ariel giggled and passed the pendant back to the woman, who placed it back in her desk drawer while the Doctor put his inside his coat.

When the woman hung up she turned back to the Doctor and Ariel with a charming grin. “How can I help the pair of you?”

“Well,” Ariel sighed, glancing at the Doctor and the woman. “I was just thinking that we could probably do with seeing a list of your clients. I’m guessing it’s not as long as your boss likes to make out to the press,” Ariel smirked.

The woman chuckled. “Ah, well it gets longer everyday. I’ll put that up for you right now. Would you like it printed out?”

“Yeah, that would be lovely thanks,” the Doctor nodded.

The woman tapped around on her computer. “So, Health and Safety’s sending down two of you at a time now? Last bloke who came through here didn’t exactly love the job.”

“Yeah,” Ariel sighed. “They’ve wanted to get two pairs of eyes on new and developing industries. Specifically ones that have had such a small yet positive feedback.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Ariel, clearly impressed at the social skills she was demonstrating in the moment.

The woman nodded. “Sounds about right. This should be printed in just a mo, in case you were wondering.”

“Right, thanks,” the Doctor smiled politely. He took a deep breath and stood up, peering across the room to find the printer. “That’s the printer there?” The Doctor prompted, pointing across the room.

“By the plant, yeah,” the woman nodded.

“Brilliant,” the Doctor sighed as he collapsed back into the chair.

“Hold on, has it got ink? ‘Cos I remember when I’d send stuff to the printer and it’d act like it was working then tell me it needs ink last minute,” Ariel said.

“I believe Jimbo just refilled it today so you’re all good.”

The Doctor popped up and narrowed his eyes at the printer. “Has it got paper?” He asked.

“Yeah, Jimbo keeps it stocked,” she assured them.

The Doctor nodded and plopped back down in his chair.

Just then, the blonde woman from earlier marched in with two guards on either side of her. The room automatically grew silent in her presence.

“Excuse me everyone, if I could have your attention,” the blonde woman called. The workers all stood while the Doctor and Ariel remained seated. “On average, you're each selling forty Adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person per day. And if not, you'll be replaced. Because if anyone's good in trimming the fat, it's me. Now. Back to it,” she snapped, clicking her fingers at the workers.

Ariel rolled her eyes. She knew the woman was one of those strict bosses that didn’t care for the lives of the people working for her.

As she left, all the workers returned to their seats and Ariel flashed a kind smile at the woman. “Anyway, if you could print that off,” Ariel said, gesturing to the client list on the woman’s screen.

She nodded and clicked the print button.

“Thanks,” Ariel said.

Ariel stood up and placed her chair back where she found it and the Doctor made to do the same, but was pulled back down when the woman handed him a small piece of paper.

“Oh, what’s that?” The Doctor frowned at the slip of paper and Ariel snorted at the woman clearly making eyes at him.

“My telephone number,” the woman replied coolly.

Ariel raised an eyebrow, impressed with the woman. She had never been able to be as forward as the woman was being.

“What for?” The Doctor frowned and Ariel had to place her hand over her mouth to suppress her giggles.

All those women he had in the Tardis and he was still as blind as a bat.

“Health and safety,” the woman smirked. “You be health, I’ll be safety,” she hummed.

The Doctor’s eyes grew ten sizes and he tried to hand the number back anxiously. “Ah. Ah. But that contravenes er, paragraph five, subsection C. Sorry,” the Doctor said before dropping the number on her desk and practically running out of the cubicle.

Meanwhile, Ariel laughed as she looped her arm through his. “All those women in the Tardis and you still get as red as a tomato in the face of a girl flirting with you.”

“Oh, you shut up,” the Doctor mumbled bitterly while Ariel continued to laugh at him.

They reached the printer and found it completely empty.

“Erm, what the hell?” Ariel muttered.

She and the Doctor checked to see if it was still printing or had possibly fallen down on the ground, but there was nothing.

“Someone probably took it with whatever else they were printing,” Ariel shrugged.

“Ah, I really don’t wanna go back there,” the Doctor sighed, running his fingers through his messy hair while glancing back at the cubicle warily.

Ariel giggled. “I’ll go, you can just wait by the printer so we don’t miss it again.”

The Doctor nodded. “Fair enough.”

Ariel sighed and headed back to the cubicle of the woman they had visited earlier.

“Hey, me again,” Ariel smirked. “I'm gonna need a small favor, _again_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 5 April 2018


	4. Donna Noble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention, but if you want a short story about the two weeks where the Doctor and Ariel were travelling together let me know. I have a couple ideas for it and it'll just develop their relationship to where they are now.

The Doctor and Ariel walked into the apartment of Roger Davey, one of the clients on the list they had reprinted.

Ariel had called him claiming she was part of Adipose Industries stating that her and her partner needed to ask him a few questions. Roger had been very polite and given them his address and they used the Tardis to park down the block from his house.

While Roger had been surprised at their speedy arrival, he had welcomed them inside nonetheless and even offered them some tea.

They had both kindly declined. Ariel found that the Tardis managed to brew tea better than anything she’d had before. Her mother had been exceptionally poor at brewing tea.

Roger headed back into the sitting room where the Doctor and Ariel were waiting with a fresh cup of tea for himself.

“I’ve been on the pill for two weeks now. I’ve lost fourteen kilos,” Roger explained.

Ariel frowned. “That’s the same amount every day?” She prompted.

Roger nodded. “One kilo exactly. You wake up, and it's disappeared overnight. Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning.”

The Doctor and Ariel shared a frown. That was definitely an odd thing to say about a diet pill.

“What makes you say that?” The Doctor wondered.

“That’s when I get woken up,” Roger shrugged. “Might as well weigh myself at the same time.”

“Well, why are you being woken up at one in the morning? Especially at ten past, that’s quite specific,” Ariel remarked.

“It is driving me mad,” Roger sighed. “Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot without fail, the burglar alarm goes off. I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned Watchdog. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes.”

“And no burglars,” Ariel guessed. Ten past one in the morning was oddly specific for a burglar to strike each and every night.

Roger shook his head. “Nothing. I’ve given up looking.”

The Doctor leant forward with a small sigh. “Tell me, Roger. Have you got a cat flap?” The Doctor asked.

Ariel turned to him and raised an eyebrow, but he just shook his head and placed a finger to his lips. A silent signal that she should trust him. She narrowed her eyes at him but decided to go along with whatever he was thinking and turned back to Roger.

Roger nodded, but seemed to be just as confused as Ariel felt. “It was here when I bought the house. I've never bothered with it, really,” Roger shrugged. “I'm not a cat person.”

“No, I’ve met cat people,” the Doctor nodded. “You’re nothing like them.”

Ariel chuckled, but found herself agreeing with the odd statement.

“Is that what it is, though? Cats getting inside the house?” Roger wondered, seemingly desperate to find an answer to his incessant problem.

“Well, thing about cat flaps is, they don't just let things in, they let things out as well,” the Doctor hummed.

Ariel frowned at the Doctor, even more confused than ever.

“Like what?” Roger prompted.

The Doctor turned to Ariel with wide eyes. “The fat just walks away,” he echoed from the slogan they had heard earlier that night.

Ariel’s heart stopped as she realized what the Doctor had already known.

Adipose Industries was turning people’s fat into aliens.

The Doctor took a deep breath and stood up and Ariel quickly followed. “Well, thanks for your help, Roger.”

“Not a problem,” Roger shrugged. “I’ll show you out.”

They walked out to the front door and the Doctor gave Roger a firm handshake. “Tell you what, maybe you could lay off the pills for a week or so,” he suggested.

Roger nodded just as a loud gizmo beeped from within the Doctor’s coat.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he pulled out a three louded gizmo and stared at the bright flashing lights on it in shock.

“Alright, we’ve gotta go,” the Doctor announced grabbing Ariel’s hand. “Sorry!” He called as he dragged her down the street.

“One of those Adipose things were released?!” Ariel exclaimed, trying to move her short legs as fast as the Doctor’s long ones.

“According to this, yes! But we have to catch it!” The Doctor cried.

They ran down multiple streets tracking the signal on the gizmo. A couple times they froze and the Doctor had to smack the gizmo before it started tracking again.

Eventually, they stopped in the middle of the street and the Doctor began smacking the gizmo several times, starting to lose hope in the fact that they might be able to find the Adipose.

Just as his attention was focused on the gizmo, a large white van sped down the street nearly mowing the pair down as it went.

Ariel jumped back and grabbed the Doctor’s arm tightly, waving him towards the van. The Doctor’s eyes widened and he nodded, grabbing her hand and taking off down the street towards the van.

They ran for blocks until they started to lose sight of the van. When the Doctor tried to refer back to his gizmo, it shut down, losing the signal for them permanently.

The Doctor sunk down in the street taking a seat on the pavement. Ariel moved to his side and placed her hand on his shoulder. “At least we’ve still got the pendant, and we have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing from Roger’s explanation. Besides,” she shrugged. “We can always go back tomorrow and pick up anything we missed.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I suppose I was just hoping for a bit more tonight,” he mumbled. He took a deep breath and stood up, holding out his hand to Ariel.

She took it gratefully, flashing a quick smile at him as she did so.

“Well, come on then. We can get back to the Tardis and analyze the pendant. I’m sure she can tell us a bit more.”

Ariel nodded. “Agreed.”

They headed back to the Tardis, hand in hand, hardly noticing the red haired woman on the street opposite of them, sighing as she marched back down the street, giving up on her investigation for the night as well.

“So, if they’re taking people’s fat and making them into little aliens, how do the Adipose know where to go? Like why don’t they just stay in the house with the people they came from? Technically they’re newborns so why would they want to leave their mummies?” Ariel asked.

“It’s the signal. The one that we were tracking. The one from the van. They use it to draw in the Adipose and then they capture them or whatever and bring them back to Adipose Industries. But how are they coordinating the times with every customer? How are they telling the fat exactly when to leave the bodies?” The Doctor wondered as they marched into the Tardis.

Ariel closed the door behind them and turned to the Doctor as he pulled out the pendant and began analyzing it on the console. “Also, what are they doing with the Adipose once they have them? ‘Cos you said the Adipose have a nursing planet of their own, so why do they need to be here?”

“Good question,” the Doctor nodded. “Very good question,” he hummed.

“Why, thank you,” Ariel grinned as she headed over to him and plopped down on the jumpseat.

“Oh, fascinating. Seems to be a bio-flip digital stitch, specifically for human anatomy,” the Doctor grinned, looking over at Ariel as she smiled at him.

She crossed her legs and pulled herself up on the seat, growing comfortable. “You’re such a nerd,” she sighed.

“It really is fascinating! Have a look!” He insisted.

She hesitated, but nodded and jumped up, peering over his shoulder at the pendant.

“Huh, so what? Do they get people’s DNA and use that to focus it on their specific fat and then when they activate all the pendants back home at Adipose Industries, boom, the fat walks away?”

“I think so,” the Doctor hummed. “But they can’t just type it into a computer they have to have some sort of homing device, something that channels the Adipose and begins the parthenogenesis.”

“You think it’s back at Adipose Industries?” Ariel guessed.

“Must be,” the Doctor nodded. He took a deep breath and sighed softly as he pulled the pendant away from the console and placed it back in his pocket. “You should get some sleep. We’re gonna have to get there bright and early if we want to get past that woman.”

“Fair enough, night then,” Ariel waved.

“Night,” he nodded, focusing his attention on his screen.

Ariel smiled softly and marched towards her room, going down the hall and finding the door marked with her name on it.

She sighed and opened it, pulling her hair out of her ponytail as she kicked off her shoes.

She had originally been surprised when she found that her room looked just like her one back home. She didn’t think it was possible that the Tardis could even do that and it made her a bit uneasy, but when she asked the Doctor, he just said it was the Tardis trying to make her feel comfortable in her new residence.

He had also asked her if she wanted him to sonic her phone. It could provide her with a way to talk to her Mum and try and make up some excuse for her absence, or at the very least talk to some friends back home, but Ariel denied the offer. She had no idea how she could explain to her Mum that she was travelling across all of time and space with a nine hundred year old alien, and she was a rubbish liar. He brought up the option of talking to her friends and she looked at him very seriously when she said she had no friends before marching back to her room and slamming the door. It was no use lying to him, after all.

She was extremely happy to have the opportunity to see the world and become just like the main character from one of her books, going on daring adventures and seeing the universe meeting new and charming friends along the way.

It was much easier to be with the Doctor than with the people back at her school, she wasn’t sure if it was because of his age or the way he cared about her but she felt much more comfortable being with him. He wasn’t loud and out there all the time trying to press her into doing things she didn’t want to do. He never poked fun at her for having an interest in things people might find dull or boring, instead he was fascinated by her interests and often asked her what she loved about certain things and if she would recommend them.

He was kind and genuine as well as incredibly brave and Ariel found herself constantly in awe of him. Sure, at times he was still very strange, but that was what made him entertaining in the times when just sitting around in the console room late at night got dull.

It was nice to step out of her shell with someone she felt truly comfortable with, the only concern that haunted her mind over the past two weeks was simple: what if, when she eventually does visit home again, she reverts back to the same quiet girl that was terrified of the Doctor when she first met him?

~~~

The next morning, Ariel woke up and combed through her hair before pulling on a quick crop top and some dark jeans. She headed to the Tardis kitchen and grabbed a mug of hot chocolate just in time to see the Doctor walking in, already dressed for the day.

“Why, hello,” Ariel grinned.

“Hot chocolate in the morning?” The Doctor prompted.

“Used to be a tradition of mine as a kid. Once I learned how to make it I always woke up before everyone else and made a cup before running back to my room so my Mum wouldn’t notice,” Ariel said and the Doctor chuckled.

“I love hearing about traditions like that. They seem simple, but they make you who you ought to be.”

Ariel smiled. “Would you like a cuppa?”

“Ah, yes please.”

Ariel giggled and made him a cup of hot chocolate. “My Mum always hated hot chocolate. She complained that it was bad for the teeth.”

“Your mother is a menace,” the Doctor remarked as he took a seat at the small table in the kitchen.

“Oh, don’t I know it,” Ariel muttered. “Then again, I used to drink it like everyday so maybe she had a point,” Ariel chuckled. She finished making the Doctor’s hot chocolate and passed it to him before taking a seat across from him. “So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Get back to Adipose Industries first of all, and I can use the sonic to find where the homing device is and open it. We’ll have to bring the pendant in case it’s needed but today we should just be trying to work out what it is and how to get control of it.”

Ariel nodded. “All night?”

“We should be back in time for dinner,” the Doctor assured her with a soft smile.

Ariel grinned. “Good,” she sighed as she finished her hot chocolate and put it back in the sink. The Doctor did the same and they headed out to the console room.

He started the Tardis and directed them to an alleyway near Adipose Industries. Parked right in front of the Tardis was a bright blue car.

“Oh, that’s handy. We’ve got a getaway car if we get caught,” Ariel remarked.

The Doctor chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they headed back around to the back of the building and went through the fire escape once again.

The Doctor tracked the homing device with his sonic once they got inside and eventually found what looked like an ordinary storage room.

“Never trust the ordinary in a strange place. It’s just crying out to be odd,” the Doctor smirked as he sonicked the door open.

“Does that mean I shouldn't trust the hot chocolate from this morning?” Ariel smiled.

“Okay, don’t trust every ordinary thing,” the Doctor resigned. “Distrusting everything could make you extremely superstitious.”

“Says the man who brought us here because the name was suspicious,” Ariel reminded him.

“Oi! I was right wasn’t I? Now, come on, close the door. We don’t need the guards wondering why the pair of us are holed up in the room with the door wide open.”

“I reckon they’ll think the same thing that people think when the pair of us step out of that tiny police box together,”  Ariel smirked. She closed the door behind them and moved a mop to the side so she could get a better look at what the Doctor was doing.

“What’s that then?” The Doctor asked, his eyes wide and childlike.

Ariel snorted. “You really are thick when it comes to women aren’t you?”

“Oi!” The Doctor snapped.

“I’m just saying,” Ariel sighed. “Have you ever dated a human girl?”

The Doctor’s eyes widened and his cheeks blushed a bright pink. “Er, once or twice,” he shrugged.

“Was it the girl in the bikini?” Ariel giggled.

“No, no, not Leela,” the Doctor shook his head.

“Oh, she has a name,” Ariel laughed. “Well, if not her, who then? You said you didn’t fancy Martha even though she fancied you.”

“It was, er, Rose Tyler,” he mumbled.

“Ah, Rose!” Ariel exclaimed. “The blonde one. She seemed cute. You said she was your first companion after that war on your planet?”

“Yep, not that I wanted a companion, but she-she was perfect. She was sort of exactly what I needed after a battle like that, you know?”

“Not really,” Ariel admitted. “But I suppose that’s a good thing. I guess. If I did know the feeling of someone helping me after a war. That would mean I’ve faced a bit too much at eighteen,” Ariel chuckled humorlessly.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed. “You’ve got a point.”

Just then, the wall hissed loudly and chugged open revealing a bright green device that looked sort of like a ribcage with red flashing lights on the sides.

“Ah, there you are,” the Doctor hummed as he scanned the device and worked with the pendant, testing it to see how it works.

He was mostly just toying around with it, trying to learn as much as possible about it before he actually used it to stop the Adipose and the blonde woman.

Ariel sighed softly and leant back on the wall as he worked.

The Doctor pulled out his little brown glasses and put them on to get a closer look at the homing device. He took a quick look up at Ariel, narrowing his eyes curiously at the girl.

“What about you?” He prompted.

“Huh?” She frowned.

“Well, what about you? Any old ex boyfriends?” He proposed. “Girlfriends?” He offered.

Ariel chuckled softly. It was clear that he was trying to seem like he didn’t care, yet failing tremendously.

“Ah, I had one or two a while back. Nobody since I’ve moved though,” she shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t exactly like the people in my school.”

“And no friends back home?” He frowned.

“I wasn’t exactly social enough to make friends,” she smirked. “I didn’t talk to people and anyone that wanted to be my friend would usually wind up sitting there staring at me while I listened to music or read. Turns out people don’t love that,” she smiled.

She didn’t tell him that she had originally used the books and music to escape into a different time. To imagine she was apart of a world where people didn’t hate her for her discomfort with largely populated areas. She wanted to be anywhere but her everyday life and with the Doctor she finally got what she wanted. She finally got a friend and an escape all in one. She had never felt the need to retreat into the books since she met the Doctor, and she couldn’t have been happier about it.

The homing device beeped loudly and a string of lights directing upwards appeared. Almost immediately afterwards, the Doctor’s gizmo went off and started tracking a moving signal.

“Well, it seems we’ll be taking a little field trip today,” the Doctor grinned, poking his tongue out in excitement and Ariel smiled.

It was hard to be afraid when you had a nine hundred year old alien grinning up at you like a small child.

Ariel giggled and he used his sonic to turn off the homing device and close the wall in front of it, putting everything back the way they found it, then grabbing Ariel’s hand and heading out of the storage room.

He pulled out his gizmo and they tracked it down a hall they watched the blonde woman march down, straight into the room she went inside and locked.

“Well, I’m guessing that’s out of the question,” Ariel sighed.

“Not quite yet,” the Doctor smirked. “Come on, I know another way we can figure out what’s going on.” He tightened his grip on her hand and bolted up the steps all the way until they hit the roof. The Doctor pushed the door open loudly, hearing it slam loudly on the wall as they ran out.

“Erm, what are you doing?” Ariel wondered as she watched him bolt to the edge of the roof. “Don’t do it, if-.”

“No, that’s not what I was thinking,” the Doctor chuckled. “There should be a window cleaner’s cradle somewhere around here.”

“Ah, yes! That way we can lower it to her window and see what she’s doing.”

“Now you’re getting it!” The Doctor laughed.

“Over here!” Ariel called, peering over the edge of the building to see a small metal cradle.

The Doctor bolted over and laughed victoriously when he spotted the window cleaner’s cradle. He kissed Ariel quickly on her forehead and peered around for the controls.

“Madam, your chariot awaits,” the Doctor said waving her into the cradle.

“Why thank you,” Ariel smiled, faking a curtsey as she climbed inside the cradle.

The Doctor grinned and pulled out his sonic to take control of the window cleaner’s cradle.

“Keep an eye out for when we reach her window,” the Doctor instructed.

Ariel nodded. “Will do.”

They lowered through several floors with the regular expected hustle and bustle of an ordinary business place. It was almost unnerving seeing as Adipose Industries was anything but ordinary.

Eventually, they reached the woman’s window and instead of proclaiming their presence loudly, Ariel just tapped the Doctor’s arm and nodded.

The Doctor pulled his sonic away from the controls and fished in his suit pockets for a stethoscope, he pulled it out and Ariel raised both eyebrows at the item.

“How much stuff have you got in those pockets?” Ariel wondered.

“You really don’t wanna know,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel found that because he had told her that, she wanted to know even more.

“Keep your head down. I’m gonna try to listen to their conversation,” the Doctor instructed.

Ariel nodded and did as he said, sitting down in the window cleaner’s cradle while the Doctor pressed his stethoscope to the window.

“You can’t tie me up,” a feminine voice snapped. The Doctor peered over the cradle briefly and spotted the journalist from earlier, Penny, being tied up in a chair. No doubt because she had gone too far looking into Adipose Industries and maybe uncovered something they hadn’t wanted her to see.

“They’ve got a prisoner. The journalist from yesterday. The smart one,” the Doctor whispered.

Ariel’s eyes widened but she said nothing.

“What sort of a country do you think this is?” Penny snapped.

“Oh, it's a beautifully fat country. And believe me, I've travelled a long way to find obesity on this scale,” the blonde woman stated.

“The boss, she’s alien,” the Doctor muttered.

“I knew it!” Ariel grinned.

The Doctor chuckled and continued listening.

“So, come on then, Miss Foster, those pills. What are they?” Penny asked.

“Well, you might just as well have a scoop, since you'll never see it printed. This,” she said, holding up one of the pills. “Is the spark of life.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Penny frowned.

“Officially, the capsule attracts all the fat cells and flushes them away. Well, it certainly attracts them. That part's true. But it binds the fat together and galvanises it to form a body,” Miss Foster explained.

“So, that’s how it’s done,” the Doctor breathed.

“What? What is it?” Ariel frowned.

The Doctor knelt down and handed her one side of the stethoscope so she could listen before sitting back up and listening to them speak.

“What do you mean, a body?” Penny wondered.

“I am surprised you never asked about my name. I chose it well. Foster. As in foster mother. And these are my children,” Miss Foster said simply. She walked behind her desk and opened one of the drawers.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look of surprise, both in utter shock that Foster was so willing to show one of the Adipose to Penny if she was in fact their so called “mother.”

Miss Foster placed one of the Adipose on the desk. A small marshmallow type alien with tiny feet and a fat body.

Ariel’s eyes widened at the sight of it, but she wasn’t afraid. In fact, the Adipose seemed rather adorable.

“It’s kinda cute,” Ariel remarked.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s made of human fat. I wouldn’t think you’d find something made of human fat cute.”

“Okay, well, other than that,” Ariel sighed. “It’s just a tiny baby,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, it is isn’t it?” The Doctor smiled.

“You’re kidding me,” Penny scoffed. “What the hell is that?”

The Doctor and Ariel moved up to get a closer look at the baby Adipose while a red head across the way, hiding behind the door to the office started to do the exact same thing.

“Adipose. It's called an Adipose. Made out of living fat,” Miss Foster said simply as though every human saw an Adipose on a daily basis.

“But I don’t understand,” Penny shook her head.

“From ordinary human people,” Miss Foster smiled wistfully.

While Ariel remained fixated watching Miss Foster and Penny, the Doctor’s vision moved elsewhere, continuing to listen, but growing bored watching the Adipose trip around on Miss Foster’s desk and try to step over her pens and pencils. He turned his attention to the door just as the red head hiding behind it popped up to see the Adipose and spotted him.

The Doctor stumbled in surprise and Ariel looked up, frowning at him. He didn’t even turn to face her and Ariel followed his line of sight to see the red haired woman watching the pair of them with wide eyes and a large grin painted across her face.

“Doctor, who is that?” Ariel asked.

“An old friend,” the Doctor breathed with a dazed smile spreading across his face.

 _Donna?_ He mouthed.

 _Doctor? Doctor!_ She mouthed right back.

 _But, what? What? What?_ The Doctor mouthed, shaking his head in confusion as he did so.

_Oh my god!_

_But how?_ The Doctor wondered.

 _It’s me!_ Donna mouthed, jumping up and down and waving to herself, unknowingly drawing the attention of Miss Foster and the other guards in the room.

 _Yes, I can see that_ , the Doctor mouthed, pointing to his eyes then her.

 _Oh, this is brilliant! Who’s that girl?_ Donna mouthed, gesturing to Ariel.

“What, me?” Ariel muttered.

The Doctor smiled and turned to Donna. _A friend. What are you doing here?_

_I was looking for you!_

_What for?_ The Doctor wondered and Ariel rolled her eyes. She still loved that he felt the need to ask. If she had met him only once and he had left, she would’ve been dying to see him again. He was a mysterious man that promised people all of the universe. Who wouldn’t look for him?

_I read it on the internet. Weird. Crept along. Heard them talking. Hid. You._

Just as Donna, looked around while gesturing, she noticed Miss Foster and the guards all watching them like a free mime show.

“Are we interrupting you?” Miss Foster asked calmly.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look of utter terror as Donna stood awestruck behind the door.

“Run!” The Doctor shouted and Donna immediately bolted down the hallway.

“Get her,” Miss Foster instructed.

The guards started marching towards the door and the Doctor clenched his jaw as he fished his sonic out of his pocket. “Oh, no you don’t!” He exclaimed and he sonicked the door.

Ariel grinned as she realized that was another thing she loved about the Doctor. He always protected his friends. No matter what it might risk him.

“And them,” Miss Foster sighed, waving toward the Doctor and Ariel.

“Oh, shite,” Ariel mumbled.

One of the guards marched towards them while the other remained at the door, desperately trying to pull it open.

“Hold on,” the Doctor instructed.

Ariel grabbed the Doctor’s arm and he pointed his screwdriver up where the line for the cradle was being kept. He sonicked it and they went speeding up through the air to the roof.

Once they reached the roof, the Doctor put his sonic back in his suit and helped Ariel out of the window cleaner’s cradle.

“Come on, we have to get Donna,” the Doctor said.

“But who is she? Who’s Donna?” Ariel frowned as the Doctor opened the door to the stairwell and they headed inside the building.

“I met her a while back on Christmas. She was supposed to be getting married then. It didn’t work out,” he shrugged. “But I asked her to travel with me and she didn’t want to.”

“I can’t imagine anybody saying no to that,” Ariel admitted.

“Yeah, well, she said she didn’t like the way I worked. The risk and the possible killing, it was too much.”

“Fair enough,” Ariel nodded. “But now you’ve found her again.”

“More like she found me,” the Doctor sighed. “A whole universe of people and she’s the only one I’ve ever met twice.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Ariel wondered.

The Doctor turned and grinned at her in that way she loved. “It’s amazing.”

They ran down another flight of steps and ran straight into Donna. She and the Doctor embraced automatically and Ariel grinned at them.

“Oh, my God. I don't believe it. You've even got the same suit! Don't you ever change?” Donna sighed, frowning down at his outfit.

Ariel snorted. “That’s what I tell him.”

“Yeah, thanks for that. Now’s not exactly the time,” the Doctor hummed as the sound of boots and loud voices echoed up the steps.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and grinned at Donna. “Just like old times!” He exclaimed and she laughed, following them up the steps to the roof.

“I’m Ariel Parsons by the way,” Ariel called to Donna as they ran.

“Donna Noble. I’m guessing you travel with the Doctor?” She prompted.

“Yeah, I sort of ran face first into his Tardis. Quite literally,” Ariel shrugged.

The Doctor chuckled at the memory, but said nothing.

“It’s pretty impressive that you found the Doctor a second time just so you know. He doesn’t seem like an easy man to find,” Ariel remarked.

“He isn’t,” Donna chuckled. “It was killer at first, but I realized I’m probably going about it all wrong,” Donna sighed as they reached the roof. “Because I thought, how do you find the Doctor? And then I just thought, look for trouble and then he'll turn up,” Donna shrugged.

The two women moved to the side while the Doctor slammed the door to the stairwell shut and sonicked it behind them.

“That does seem likely,” Ariel giggled. “But how what would you look for? I mean technically speaking there’s trouble everywhere.”

“So I looked everywhere,” Donna nodded. “You name it. UFOs, sightings, crop circles, sea monsters. I looked, I found them all. Like that stuff about the bees disappearing, I thought, I bet he's connected. Because the thing is, I believe it all now. You opened my eyes, Doctor. All those amazing things out there, I believe them all. Well, apart from that replica of the Titanic flying over Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day. I mean, that's got to be a hoax,” Donna rambled.

Ariel snorted. Until she met the Doctor, she didn’t pay any mind to the hoaxes the news tossed at her, but when she met him it all sort of added up and it made so much sense it was almost funny.

“What do you mean, the bees are disappearing?” The Doctor frowned as he hopped back over to the window cleaner’s cradle and tried to lock the controls.

“I don't know. That's what it says on the internet,” Donna shrugged. “Well, on the same site, there was all these conspiracy theories about Adipose Industries and I thought, let's take a look.”

“So, what? You just got the credentials and snuck into a national diet pill business on a conspiracy theory?” Ariel asked.

“Pretty much,” Donna said.

“I like her,” Ariel grinned. “You’ve got guts,” Ariel remarked. “I wouldn’t have done that no matter how terrible the theories were.”

“Oh, alright now the pair of you, in,” the Doctor instructed, waving them to the window cleaner’s cradle.

Ariel got in without hesitation, but Donna took a step back with wide eyes.

“What, in that thing?!” Donna exclaimed.

“Yeah, come on,” Ariel said, waving her over. “It’s harmless.”

“Oh, I’ll be the judge of that,” Donna said. “If we go down, they could just call us back up again,” she argued.

“No, no, no, because I've locked the controls with a sonic cage,” the Doctor assured her. “I'm the only one that can control it. Not unless she's got a sonic device of her own, which is very unlikely.”

Donna hesitated but nodded and climbed inside right before the Doctor. Ariel moved over so they could both have room.

The Doctor lowered them down slowly, keeping his sonic fixated on the controls.

“So, how long have you been traveling with him?” Donna wondered.

“Hmm?” Ariel said.

“The Doctor. How long have you been with him?” Donna asked.

“Oh, I dunno. I think about three weeks now,” Ariel frowned. “Blimey, is that right? Three weeks?”

The Doctor nodded. “This is the third Friday you’ve been travelling with me.”

“It’s hard to keep track of time, but yeah. Three weeks.”

“So, not that long then?” Donna guessed.

“Well, it feels like ages, but yeah I guess it really hasn’t been that long,” Ariel shrugged.

Just then sparks shot out of the controls to the cradle on the roof and the Doctor’s eyes widened as the cradle dropped suddenly.

Ariel latched onto the sides of the cradle, her heart pounding in her ears as Donna jumped up and tried to peer at the roof.

The Doctor managed to get the cradle to stop, but it froze in front of a darkened window that they had no way of getting inside.

“Hold on. Hold on. We can get in through the window,” the Doctor promised, directing his sonic at it.

The Doctor tried to sonic it but winced as nothing seemed to be coming out of it. “Can’t get it open!” The Doctor cried.

Donna peered around the cradle to see if there was anything they could use to save their own lives. She picked up a spanner as though that were the ultimate solution.

“Well smash it then!” Donna exclaimed before hitting the bulletproof windows very roughly with a spanner.

Ariel commended both of them in their efforts, but she started looking outside the cradle for something they could use. She looked up and spotted Miss Foster watching them with a sickening grin on her face. She pulled out her sonic device and began pointing it at one of the cables.

It started burning and Ariel’s heart stopped in her chest. “Doctor!” She cried.

The Doctor looked at her with wide eyes and Ariel pointed up to Miss Foster.

She could see the Doctor visibly gulp and Donna looked up in horror at the sight.

“She’s cutting the cable,” Donna breathed.

Before any of them had a chance to react or figure out how to stop her, the cable snapped and Ariel was tipped out of the cradle.

She screamed loudly and the Doctor bolted after her while Donna grabbed her hands and held her up.

“Ariel!” The Doctor yelled, his hearts pounding loudly in his chest as terror clenched them. He couldn’t lose Ariel. He couldn’t let her fall.

“Doctor!” Ariel cried, her legs dangling as she gripped Donna’s hands tightly.

“Hold on!” Donna yelled.

“Oh God,” Ariel breathed, looking down at the traffic below. She suddenly felt very sick to her stomach, on the brink of tears as her heart thrummed loudly in her ears.

The Doctor looked up and spotted Miss Foster pointing her sonic device at the other cable. The Doctor clenched his jaw and aimed his sonic screwdriver directly at her hand, watching her with cold eyes as he blasted the sonic device out of her grasp.

He caught the falling sonic pen in his hands and turned back to Ariel. She looked up at him with wide eyes and dilated pupils, hopelessly swinging her feet, hoping to find a ledge or something she can rest them on.

“I’ll save you,” he promised, speaking barely above a whisper, but with all her senses hyperfocused on him, she heard.

“Do what you have to,” she nodded.

He gave her a quick smile before placing Miss Foster’s sonic pen between his teeth and climbing up to a cracked window.

“Where the hell is he going?!” Donna exclaimed.

“He’s going to save us,” Ariel mumbled.

“I knew I should’ve stayed at home,” Donna sighed. “This is all his fault.”

“No, it’s not.”

“What makes you so quick to trust him, three weeks in?” Donna wondered.

“Every chance he’s had, he’s risked his own life to save mine no matter how often I try to stop him. I’d say that’s pretty trustworthy, wouldn’t you,” Ariel said.

She desperately fought to keep her eyes off the ground and distract herself in a conversation with Donna, and if that meant talking about whether or not she could trust the Doctor, she would happily oblige.

“Just you wait, he’ll find a way to get us out of this,” Ariel promised.

“I sure hope you’re right,” Donna mumbled. “I could’ve been doing a lot with my Friday night that wasn’t keeping some kid from instant death.”

“Oh, gee thanks for that reminder,” Ariel snapped.

“Sorry,” Donna muttered.

Just then, Ariel heard the window beneath her feet unlock. “Oh, thank God,” she sighed.

The Doctor pushed the window up and stretched his arms out and grabbed Ariel’s legs.

“Oi! Get off her!” Donna snapped, only seeing a pair of arms grabbing Ariel’s feet.

“It’s alright, Donna,” Ariel assured her.

“I’ve got you,” the Doctor said. “Just go slowly, alright?”

“Got it,” Ariel nodded. She slowly moved through the window gripping onto the top of it so she didn’t go diving headfirst into the street. The Doctor pressed a hand against her back to steady her as he gradually helped her inside.

Once she was in, he helped her onto the floor and sighed in relief.

“You alright?” The Doctor asked, brushing a few stray hairs out of her face and smiling softly at her.

“Yeah,” Ariel breathed. “Thanks.”

“Ariel!” Donna shrieked. “Ariel!”

“Now we go get Donna,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel giggled.

“Off we go!” She exclaimed happily.

The Doctor grabbed her hand and they started running out of Miss Foster’s office.

“Oi!” Penny snapped.

The pair skidded to a stop and the Doctor ran over while Ariel stayed by the door which had been shot open after the Doctor sonicked it closed.

“Sorry!” The Doctor exclaimed. He sonicked her ropes and freed her. “Now do yourself a favour. Get out,” the Doctor instructed.

He bolted back to Ariel and grabbed her hand before running back up the steps to help their friend out of the window cleaner’s cradle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 5 April 2018


	5. Team TARDIS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to hear a playlist of songs I use for inspiration when writing the Doctor and Ariel I made the playlist I have on Spotify public so if you wanna listen: https://open.spotify.com/user/asgardianmiller/playlist/56OzQTmr7CIauA85hqdleA?si=Vh04nZRbQAmW4JBMnLQUCw

The Doctor, Donna, and Ariel all ran through the call centre just in time to come face to face with Miss Foster and her men.

“Well, then. At last,” Miss Foster sighed.

“Hello,” Donna waved short and slightly awkwardly.

“Nice to meet you. I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor nodded formally.

“And I’m Ariel,” Ariel said, flashing a quick smile at the woman.

“Donna,” Donna said simply.

“All three partners in crime,” Miss Foster concluded. “And evidently off-worlders, judging by your sonic technology.”

“Oh, yes, I've still got your sonic pen. Nice. I like it. Sleek. It's kind of sleek,” the Doctor said, holding up the pen for Donna and Ariel to see.

“Oh, it’s definitely sleek,” Donna nodded.

“Very nice,” Ariel agreed with a small smile. “I like it too.”

“Yeah, and if you were to sign your real name, that would be?” The Doctor prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“Matron Cofelia of the Five Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic Class,” Miss Foster said simply.

Ariel raised her eyebrows. “Ah, certainly a mouthful,” she remarked and Donna chuckled.

The Doctor just nodded, narrowing his eyes at the woman. “A wet nurse, using humans as surrogates,” he simplified.

“I've been employed by the Adiposian First Family to foster a new generation after their breeding planet was lost,” Miss Foster explained.

“What do you mean lost?” Ariel frowned. “How do you just lose a planet? It’s not some car keys.”

“Oh, politics are none of my concern. I'm just here to take care of the children on behalf of the parents,” Miss Foster shrugged.

“What, like an outer space super nanny?” Donna scoffed.

“Yes, if you like,” Miss Foster smiled as though she really enjoyed the idea of being labeled a super nanny.

“So. So those little things, they're, they're made out of fat, yeah, but that woman, Stacy Campbell, there was nothing left of her,” Donna frowned.

Ariel looked back at the Doctor and raised an eyebrow, but he just shrugged. Stacey Campbell was as much of a mystery to him as she was to her.

“Oh, in a crisis the Adipose can convert bone and hair and internal organs. Makes them a little bit sick, poor things,” Miss Foster said, giving a small pout as if they should pity the fact that some baby Adipose were sick after they killed a woman.

“What about poor Stacey?!” Donna exclaimed.

“Seeding a level five planet is against galactic law,” the Doctor warned, his eyes taking on that dangerous dark glow.

Ariel grinned at him. She did like how light-hearted and kind he could be, but it was nice to see when he could grow strong and even threatening when he needed to. It would not only be rubbish to be travelling across all of time and space with a bit of a pushover, but it also made her feel very protected when standing by his side, like nothing could truly hurt her.

“Are you threatening me?” Miss Foster practically scoffed.

“I'm trying to help you, Matron. This is your one chance, because if you don't call this off, then I'll have to stop you,” the Doctor threatened.

“I hardly think you can stop bullets,” Miss Foster smirked, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

The guards took aim and the Doctor’s eyes widened. He immediately spread his arms to block Ariel before he spoke. “No, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. One more thing, before dying. Do you know what happens if you hold two identical sonic devices against each other?” The Doctor asked.

Miss Foster narrowed her eyes at him and sighed softly. “No,” she confessed.

“Nor me,” the Doctor smirked. “Let’s find out.”

He turned on both sonic devices and held them adjacent to each other so it created an awful, annoyingly loud noise that blasted their eardrums. Everyone knelt down, clutching their ears in pain except for the Doctor.

He just grinned as he glared at Miss Foster and her guards while some glass shattered nearby. Ariel noticed and spun back to him, shoving roughly on his arm.

“Come on!” She cried.

The Doctor seemed to notice that he was getting lost in what he was doing and took a deep breath as he pulled the sonics away from each other. He nodded to Ariel and grabbed her hand so they could run out as Donna followed while Miss Foster and her men struggled to recover from the sonic blast.

They headed all the way back down to the storage room, not stopping for a second as adrenaline rushed through their veins and for the overarching fear that Miss Foster and her men may be right behind them.

The Doctor sonicked he door to the storage room and moved all the mops and brooms to the side before pulling Ariel in with him. Donna walked in, closing the door behind them and frowning at the small room.

“Well, that’s one solution,” Donna sighed as she peered around the room. “Hide in a cupboard. I like it,” she smiled.

“Do you really think you can get through with the pen?” Ariel asked, completely ignoring Donna unwittingly.

“I might as well give it a go. They didn’t track the security breach early when I was just toying around with it, so they probably won’t notice it now,” the Doctor said.

“That’s a big probably.”

“Traveling with me is a big probably,” the Doctor retorted and Ariel nodded.

“Fair point.”

“Hold on, what’s going on?” Donna frowned.

The Doctor sonicked the wall and it slid back once again revealing the big light green machine behind it.

“I've been hacking into this thing all day, because the matron's got a computer core running through the centre of the building. Triple deadlocked. But now I've got this,” he said holding up Miss Foster’s sonic pen. “I can get into it.”

“What is it?” Donna asked.

“We originally thought it might be some sort of homing device,” Ariel said. “Some sort of signal bringing the Adipose here, but now I think it’s the trigger. The inducer of sorts that forces all the Adipose to leave their bodies at a certain time.”

“Ten minutes past one,” the Doctor nodded with a small smile on his face. Ariel nodded along until a worrisome thought popped into her head and a small frown fell across her lips.

“Doctor, I just thought. If she knows you’re an alien then she knows you’ll probably alert the Shadow Proclamation. She might start evasive maneuvers,” Ariel said.

“Good point,” the Doctor sighed. “If that’s true then she’ll want us dead. Which means she’ll be sending those guards up,” he muttered, frowning at the Inducer. “She’s wired up the whole building. We need a bit of privacy.” He held two wires together and in the distance she heard a loud whooshing sound. Like the sound you hear in movies when a forcefield comes down.

“Just enough to stop them,” the Doctor said. “Why's she wired up the tower block? What's it all for?” He wondered aimlessly.

Donna narrowed her eyes at the Doctor, observing him and his movements silently. “You look older,” she remarked.

“Thanks,” the Doctor sighed.

“Were you on your own all that time before Ariel?” Donna wondered.

“Yup. Well, no. I had this friend. Martha she was called. Martha Jones. She was brilliant. And I destroyed half her life. But she's fine, she's good. She's gone,” the Doctor rambled.

Ariel felt a twang of pity for the Doctor. She wasn’t sure if it was because Martha had fallen for the Doctor or something else, but nobody should have to feel the regret of destroying someone’s life. Especially not a man as kind-hearted as him. She could tell he put in every effort possible to be a good man and yet he still carried the weight and guilt of destroying lives.

“What about Rose?” Donna asked.

“Still lost. I thought you were going to travel the world?” The Doctor frowned, desperate to change the subject off of the people he had lost.

“Easier said than done. It's like I had that one day with you, and I was going to change. I was going to do so much. Then I woke up the next morning, same old life. It's like you were never there. And I tried. I did try. I went to Egypt. I was going to go barefoot and everything,” Donna smirked.

“Quite a feat. I was bitter when my Mum moved us to Edinburgh from Winchester,” Ariel chuckled.

“Yeah, it sounds all nice at first. And then it's all bus trips and guidebooks and don't drink the water, and two weeks later you're back home. It's nothing like being with him,” she said, nodding to the Doctor seated before the Inducer. “I must have been mad turning down that offer.”

“What offer?” The Doctor frowned.

“To come with you,” Donna shrugged as though that were obvious.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. Just a couple weeks ago he had been all on his own, now he had two friends willing to travel with him. He didn’t deserve the happiness he was feeling in that moment.

He turned to Ariel and raised an eyebrow. A silent question hung in the air. She nodded as though the answer was obvious. He grinned and turned to Donna.

“Come with us?” He asked.

“Oh, yes please,” Donna responded breathlessly, clearly awestruck that she had even gotten a second chance at traveling with him.

“Yay!” Ariel exclaimed, grinning widely at the red headed woman.

The Doctor tried to swallow his joy, realizing that there was work to be done. He took a deep breath. “Right,” he nodded.

Ariel snorted, seeing right through his faux professional demeanor to the giddy little schoolboy inside.

“Inducer activated,” the computer announced.

With those two words the atmosphere dropped considerably. They all met the Inducer with horrified frowns as they watched lights at the very center begin to beam up, a strong signal forcing people into pathogenesis.

“What’s it doing now?” Ariel asked.

“She’s started the programme,” the Doctor breathed. He dropped back down to his knees to analyze exactly what Miss Foster had done. “A million people,” he muttered. “She’s putting a million people through pathogenesis as we speak. So far they're just losing weight, but the Matron's gone up to emergency pathogenesis.”

“And that’s when they convert-,” Donna began, nodding as she started to understand with wide eyes.

“Skeletons, organs, everything,” the Doctor finished with a nod. “A million people are going to die. Got to cancel the signal.” He pulled the pendant out of his suit and dismantled it. “This contains a primary signal. If I can switch it off, the fat goes back to being just fat,” the Doctor explained very rapidly before attaching the pendant to the inducer and running it through the system.

The Doctor jumped up and backed away watching the inducer with wild eyes as he took heavy breaths.

There was a moment of utter silence before the inducer made a strange whirring sound like it was regenerating.

The trio listened with bated breath.

“Inducer increasing,” the computer announced and the Doctor’s whole body sank.

Ariel cursed. She knew she should’ve kept that second pendant, but she didn’t think they’d need it for anything. Now she knew she was an idiot and should’ve listened to her gut.

“No, no, no, no, no!” The Doctor cried. “She's doubled it. I need. Haven't got time. It's too far. I can't override it. They're all gonna die!”

“Can I make a run for it?” Ariel wondered. “You can stay here and keep the system-.”

“No, it’s too far. By the time you got back,” he sighed.

“Is there any way to use the sonic-?”

“I already have,” the Doctor said. “A million people.”

“There’s got to be a way!” Ariel cried.

“Is there anything I can do?” Donna asked.

“Sorry, Donna, this is way beyond you. Got to double the base pulse, I can't,” the Doctor mumbled in frustration, messing up his hair so somehow he managed to make it look better than it had all tidy.

“Could I go up to her office? Maybe she has another in there?” Ariel proposed.

“No,” the Doctor said automatically, as if on instinct. “I’m not risking you up there.”

“Doctor, it’s fine. She’ll be focused on the Inducer-.”

“No. It’s not worth the risk. I just,” the Doctor sighed, raking his fingers through his hair furiously once more. “I need-.”

“Doctor, tell me,” Donna insisted. “What do you need?”

The Doctor screamed as the Inducer refused to cooperate with him. “I need a second capsule to boost the override, but I've only got the one. I can't save them,” he rambled, muttering the last line to himself.

Ariel’s heart broke at the sound of him sounding so defeated in the fact that he couldn’t save them. She wanted to kick herself for not picking up that second pendant.

Like a blessing from God, Donna smirked and pulled out a second pendant from her pocket. The Doctor and Ariel stared at her with wide eyes, looking as though they might both kiss her in joy.

However, the feeling of elation only lasted momentarily as the Doctor quickly remembered they didn’t have much time and snatched the pendant from Donna before plugging it into the Inducer.

It took a few seconds, but the Inducer powered down, each light on it shutting off.

Ariel grinned victoriously and the Doctor laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and spinning her around happily as the pair continued to laugh.

When he put her down, he turned to Donna and hugged her as tight as possible, grateful for her presence in the time of desperation.

As they started to finish celebrating, there was a loud whooshing sound overhead. They all frowned and looked up at the sky, the Doctor being the first of them to look horrified as he realized what the source of the sound was.

Ariel realized almost immediately after and looked up at the Doctor with wide eyes.

“What the hell is that?” Donna frowned.

“It can’t be,” Ariel breathed. “She said the planet was lost,” she muttered.

“It’s people are apparently less so,” the Doctor hummed. “That is the sound of their nursery flying here.”

“Fine. When you say nursery you don’t mean a creche in Notting Hill,” Donna breathed.

“Nursery ship,” the Doctor nodded.

The computer lit up again and they all turned to face it.

“Incoming signal,” the computer announced. There was a brief silence then a strange voice started speaking. “Matron Cofelia of the Five Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic Class,” the voice said.

“Hadn’t we better go and stop them?” Donna asked.

“Hang on,” Ariel said, stepping toward the Inducer slowly as she listened.

“Instructions from the Adiposian First Family,” the Doctor explained quickly to Donna as he too stepped forward to listen.

The Doctor and Ariel sat and listened to the First Family speak, instructions Miss Foster clearly wasn’t hearing or there would be a ruckus coming from her end. The Doctor and Ariel almost laughed at what they were hearing.

Ariel couldn’t believe her ears until she looked up and saw the Doctor’s grin, confirming that he was just as amused as she was.

“She's wired up the tower block to convert it into a levitation post. Ooo. Oh. We're not the ones in trouble now. She is!” The Doctor exclaimed, grabbing Ariel’s hand and bolting out alongside Donna.

They all marched up to the roof running out to the edge to see dozens of bright blue beams carrying the Adipose into a large circular ship.

It was a quite stereotypical alien ship. Large and circular with dozens of different lights flashing around it. It highly contrasted the Doctor’s alien ship in both size and shape.

“What you going to do then? Blow them up?” Donna asked.

Ariel scoffed. “Why on Earth would he do that?” She wondered.

“Yeah, they’re just children. They can’t help where they come from,” he said, smiling softly down at Ariel who beamed up at him.

“Oh, that makes a change from last time. You must be doing him some good,” Donna remarked, nodding to the young woman. “That Martha too,” she added.

“She did, yeah. Yeah. She did. She fancied me,” the Doctor shrugged.

Donna sighed, leaning back as she watched the Adipose soar through the sky. “Mad Martha, that one. Blind Martha. Charity Martha,” Donna listed and Ariel laughed, watching the Doctor roll his eyes as though she were an irritating sibling making fun of a girl that had a crush on him.

An Adipose soared through the sky past them and waved, making all three grin happily at it.

Donna even waved back, eyes wide as she did so. “I’m waving at fat,” Donna breathed.

Ariel snorted and giggled, holding the Doctor’s hand as she watched him chuckle as well and wave at the fat. “Actually, as a diet plan, it sort of works,” the Doctor remarked.

He inhaled sharply and peered at one of the other blue beams of light, carrying no Adipose but a single individual. Miss Foster.

“There she is!” The Doctor exclaimed. They all raced forward toward the edge of the roof in the hopes of warning her about the plans the First Family had for their 'super nanny'.

Miss Foster stopped floating upwards momentarily to stop at the roof and talk to the trio.

“Matron Cofelia, listen to me,” the Doctor begged.

“Oh, I don't think so, Doctor. And if I never see you again, it'll be too soon,” Miss Foster hummed.

“Oh, why does no one ever listen,” the Doctor moaned. “I'm trying to help. Just get across to the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?” The Doctor asked.

“What, so that you can arrest me?” Miss Foster smirked knowingly.

“Does he really seem like the sort of person to arrest people?” Ariel asked with a raised eyebrow.

Miss Foster just shrugged in response.

“Just listen. We saw the Adiposian instructions. They know it's a crime, breeding on Earth. So what's the one thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice,” the Doctor explained.

Miss Foster just beamed knowingly at the Doctor.

“I'm far more than that. I'm nanny to all these children,” Miss Foster grinned, opening her arms and gesturing to the hundreds of Adipose flying through the air.

“Exactly!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Mum and Dad have got the kids now. They don't need the nanny anymore.”

Right after she said that, the levitation beam switched off. Miss Foster’s heart seemed to stop as she looked up at the ship then at the Doctor, she scrambled desperately in mid air like a cartoon character before falling rapidly to the ground.

Ariel buried her face in the Doctor’s chest as Miss Foster fell to her death.

Ariel pulled away with wide eyes and the Doctor just rubbed her back, sighing deeply. “We tried to save her,” he muttered.

Ariel nodded and peered cautiously over the edge.

“Come on,” the Doctor said. “We should get back to the Tardis,” he said.

The two women exchanged a look and nodded.

“Let’s go,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor grabbed her hand giving her a quick squeeze to reassure her before marching out to the stairwell.

They headed out of the building and down to the Brook Street where everyone was still recovering from the mania of the spaceship and the fat strutting across the streets.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around Ariel as they walked, Donna standing by their side, smiling up at the city they had saved.

The Doctor pulled Miss Foster’s sonic pen out of his coat and tossed it in a rubbish bin as they walked.

“I’d’ve thought you’d want to keep that,” Ariel frowned.

“Nah, nothing can replace my screwdriver,” he grinned.

Just then, Penny ran towards them still tied to her chair. “Oi, you three. You're just mad. Do you hear me? Mad! And I'm going to report you for madness!” She cried as she ran down the street, tied to a chair.

“You see, some people just can’t take it,” Ariel hummed.

“No,” the Doctor chuckled.

“And some people can,” Donna grinned. “So, then. Tardis! Come on!”

They marched down the street and rounded the corner to the alleyway they had parked the Tardis in.

The Doctor and Ariel kept walking while Donna froze in the middle of the alleyway, gaping at the car and the Tardis parked right behind it.

“That's my car!” Donna exclaimed. “That is like destiny,” she gasped. “And I've been ready for this,” she breathed.

Ariel headed into the Tardis, ready to start making dinner while the Doctor grinned at Donna and she opened the boot of her car which was stuffed full of suitcases.

Donna saw Ariel retreat into the Tardis and frowned. “Oi, where’s she off to, then?”

“Probably fixing up dinner,” the Doctor chuckled. “Blimey, you packed a car full,” he remarked.

Donna grinned and nodded. “I packed ages ago, just in case. Because I thought, hot weather, cold weather, no weather. He goes anywhere. I've gotta be prepared,” she shrugged, unloading the boot into the Doctor’s arms.

“You’ve got a, a hatbox,” the Doctor remarked.

“Planet of the Hats, I'm ready. I don't need injections, do I? You know, like when you go to Cambodia. Is there any of that? Because my friend Veena went to Bahrain, and she. You're not saying much,” Donna frowned, her posture falling as she watched him.

“No, it's just. It's a funny old life, in the Tardis,” the Doctor sighed, wary of what could develop with Donna if he wasn’t careful. Especially since he had met her once before, it had the potential to grow into something dangerous.

“You don’t want me,” Donna muttered.

“I’m not saying that,” the Doctor assured her, shaking his head.

“But you asked me. Would you want it to be just you and Ariel?” Donna wondered. “You two did seem rather close,” Donna smiled wistfully.

The Doctor grinned at the thought, but shook his head and inhaled sharply. “No, actually no. But the last time, with Martha, like I said, it, it got complicated. And that was all my fault. I just want a mate.”

Donna’s eyes widened and her face fell as she glared at the Doctor. “You just want _to_ mate?!” Donna exclaimed.

“I just want _a_ mate!” The Doctor cried.

“You’re not mating with me, sunshine!” Donna cried.

“ _A_ mate,” the Doctor said pointedly. “I want _a_ mate _._ ”

“Well, just as well, because I'm not having any of that nonsense,” Donna sighed. “I mean, you're just a long streak of nothing. You know, alien nothing.”

“There we are, then,” the Doctor nodded. “Okay.”

“Hold on,” Donna muttered, narrowing her eyes at the Doctor. “Haven’t you already got that with Ariel?”

“Tha-it’s complicated. Never mind that,” the Doctor shook his head. “You can come, if you want of course.”

“I can come?!” Donna exclaimed, echoing his words happily.

“Yeah. Course you can, yeah. I'd love it,” the Doctor beamed.

“Oh, that’s just-,” Donna ran to hug him but froze halfway there. “Car keys,” she muttered.

“What?” The Doctor frowned.

“I've still got my Mum's car keys. I won't be a minute,” Donna promised.

The Doctor stared after her as she ran down the alleyway and shrugged before opening the Tardis door and lugging her bags inside.

As he did so, Ariel walked out in her pyjamas with a fresh cup of tea and laughed at the sight of all the suitcases.

“You changed already?” The Doctor frowned.

“Yeah, dinners in the oven," Ariel shrugged. "Are those her suitcases?” She asked, gesturing to the various stacks of suitcases piled up around the boot of the car.

“Yep,” the Doctor sighed.

“All of them?”

“Every last one,” he groaned as he picked up a particularly heavy box.

“Bloody hell,” Ariel mumbled.

“Oi! Don’t swear!” The Doctor snapped.

“I’m just saying,” Ariel shrugged. “She came prepared. All I came with was my school books.”

“She has a hatbox,” the Doctor chuckled.

Ariel snorted and headed over to the entrance. “Here, you clearly haven’t handled a woman’s belongings in a long time,” Ariel sighed.

“Oi!” The Doctor snapped.

“Am I wrong?” Ariel prompted, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, shut up,” the Doctor moaned and Ariel laughed.

“My point exactly,” she sighed.

She helped him carry all the rest of the suitcases into the Tardis and arranged them so they would still have walking room when she returned.

“Well, I’m gonna go check on the pasta,” Ariel said. “Good luck,” she sighed.

“Thanks,” he muttered and she flashed him a quick grin before heading back to the kitchen.

When Donna returned, she entered with a sigh and closed the door behind her. “Off we go, then,” Donna breathed.

“Here it is. The Tardis. It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside,” the Doctor announced proudly.

“Oh, I know that bit,” Donna waved her hand dismissively. “Although frankly, you could turn the heating up,” she muttered, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself up.

“So, whole wide universe, where do you want to go?” The Doctor asked.

“Oh, I know exactly the place,” Donna grinned.

“Which is?” The Doctor prompted.

“Two and a half miles that way,” Donna said pointing to her left.

In just a few moments, Donna Noble’s grandfather Wilfred Mott was packing up after a long night of watching the stars when a bright blue box soared across the sky.

“There!” Wilfred exclaimed. “Donna, it's, it's the flying blue box!”

He peered through his telescope to see Donna, the Doctor and Ariel all waving at him from within the Tardis.

“What?” Wilf breathed. “That’s Donna,” he muttered. “Yeah, that’s Donna.”

He peered at the Doctor, waving politely from the Tardis. “And that's him. That's him. Hey, that's him!” Wilfred cried, jumping up and tossing off his hat, dancing in circles joyfully. “Ha, ha, ha! Go on, gal! Go on, get up there! Hey!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 5 April 2018


	6. The Midnight Trip

That night, Ariel crawled out of her bed, her mind overactive and not allowing her to fall asleep.

She sighed and pulled up her hair, absentmindedly wandering through the infinite Tardis until she arrived at the console room.

There stood the Doctor toying with the controls silently, a small smile on his face, clearly happy at the peaceful setting.

Ariel grinned and watched him happily, leaning against the wall as she did so.

He spun around as he pulled one of the levers and froze when he spotted her. “What are you doing up?” He asked with a small frown.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she shrugged. “What about you?”

“Ah, I sleep less than most humans. I usually just spend the time up in here while you lot are still sleeping,” the Doctor said. “What about you?”

“I was thinking about my Mum,” Ariel sighed as she shuffled into the console room and plopped down onto the jumpseat. “I know I have to go back some time and I’m sort of dreading it.”

“Oh, now, why’s that?” The Doctor wondered.

“Because I have to explain where I’ve been, and I’m a rubbish liar,” Ariel mumbled.

“Just tell her you’ve been staying with a mate or something,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Yeah, well she might find it a bit odd that I’m staying with someone I just met. She knows I don’t have any mates and she’s always more than happy to remind me of that fact,” Ariel muttered bitterly.

“What’s she do? Make fun of you or something?” The Doctor frowned.

“More than that. She insults me for it. She once asked me why I couldn’t just be some normal child who goes out with mates and gives her a break every once in a while,” Ariel sighed. “It’s not going to be fun going back.”

The Doctor watched her curiously for a moment before taking a deep breath.

“Do you want me to go with you when you talk to her?” The Doctor asked. “Soften the blow, I suppose?”

“No,” Ariel shook her head. “I have to face her on my own. I know that. I’m just dreading it.”

“Well, what do you say we take your mind off it?” The Doctor proposed with a small smile.

“How do you mean?” Ariel frowned.

“One trip while Donna’s sleeping. Anywhere in all of time and space. Your choice,” he grinned.

“Really?” She smiled, looking up at him with starstruck eyes.

The whole time she had been travelling with him, he had always shown her all the places he had wanted her to see. Even though it was great, he had never really given her the opportunity to make her own choice. She was immediately overwhelmed with the decision. Anywhere in all of time and space and all she had to do was say the word.

She took a deep breath and leant back with wide eyes. There were so many massive moments she could choose from, but she figured the Doctor had probably seen those thousands of times. With all the companions he had travelled with, she had no doubt in her mind that they had all asked to see the moon landing or JFK or some other well-known moment in history and the Doctor was well worn out by then. She sighed and thought of one place that he may have never seen.  Something was out of the ordinary but still close to her heart.

Her eyes brightened as she looked up at the Doctor, remembering the one thing she dreamed about seeing as a kid. The Doctor grinned, knowing in that moment that she had found the one thing she wanted to see.

“There was this one concert. When I was little my dad used to tell me how much he loved watching it. The concert of a lifetime he called it.”

“Well, what shall it be then?” The Doctor smiled.

“Frank Sinatra at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 13th, 1974,” Ariel said.

The Doctor seemed momentarily surprised but nodded and starting setting the Tardis for the coordinates. “Just a thought, I’d avoid talking to your father if I were you. We don’t exactly need him knowing that his eighteen-year-old daughter is at the same concert as him before she was even born.”

“Fair point,” Ariel chuckled. “I’m gonna go get changed. I don’t really wanna show up at the concert in my pyjamas,” she grinned before heading back to her room.

The Doctor smiled and nodded. He had to admit, he had been slightly taken aback by the request. He’d had a lot of odd requests throughout time, but none had ever asked for a concert they weren’t alive for yet.

He landed the Tardis and waited for Ariel to return. When she did, she wore a shirt and long skirt and grinned at him.

“You ready?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Thank you for doing this by the way,” Ariel said.

“Oh, not a problem,” the Doctor shrugged. “Now shall we go see Mister Frank Sinatra live and in person?”

“Yes,” she giggled. “I can’t believe I finally get to see this. I’ve dreamed of this moment since I was a little girl,” Ariel said.

“Well, madam, your concert awaits,” the Doctor said.

Ariel giggled and took his arm, marching outside to the concert she had fallen in love with growing up.

She had the time of her life at the concert, and though she spent the whole time wary of talking to any men that looked even remotely like her father.

The Doctor noticed and while he was amused by it, told her that bumping into her father or saying hello wouldn’t destroy the universe despite her acting like it would.

When the concert ended, the Doctor wrapped his arm around Ariel’s shoulders and they walked back to the Tardis in a happy daze.

"Y’know, I think that is the first time we’ve gone somewhere without something going wrong or some alien race trying to take over,” Ariel remarked.

The Doctor laughed. “Not every trip ends like that, though the vast majority do,” he frowned.

“So, this was kinda one in a million, huh?” Ariel smirked.

“Yep, one in a million,” he smiled.

They headed back inside the Tardis and Ariel sighed as the Doctor closed the door behind them.

“Thank you for that,” Ariel said.

“Not a problem, so your dad was a big Sinatra fan, huh?” The Doctor prompted.

“Yeah, he used to play his music all the time throughout the house when I was growing up. It drove Mum mad, but he never seemed to care. He always said I needed to hear real music to distract from the rubbish they play on the radio.”

The Doctor laughed. “Your dad seems like a brilliant man.”

“He really was,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor was about to respond when out from the corridor walked Donna Noble, staring at the pair seemingly very confused.

“Where are we?” Donna muttered.

“Just stopped for the moment,” Ariel shrugged. “You want some breakfast?” She asked.

“Er, yeah, sure I suppose,” Donna mumbled.

The Doctor smiled at the pair and nodded them along. He watched as Ariel left with a soft sigh. He wondered how he could become so lucky as to come across someone as rare as her. She was sweet, genuine, kind, generous and all the things he strived to be. She was smart, funny, and beautiful and he hated the way his hearts twisted when he was alone with her. He cared about her, he really did, but above all else he was terrified of what would happen if he let those emotions develop. He had seen what had happened every time he tried to hold onto something good, so he had to make sure that above all else, he didn’t let his emotions take control again. Never again.

Meanwhile, across the Tardis, Donna and Ariel talked as Ariel made them both pancakes.

“So, the Doctor told me you almost got married once, but it didn’t work out. If you don’t mind my asking, what happened?” Ariel wondered.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Donna waved her hand to dismiss the idea. “He was actually more in love with a giant spider than he was with me,” she shrugged.

Ariel raised both eyes in surprise but shrugged and nodded. “Okay then. Why didn’t you go with the Doctor after all of that? Too shaken up by your fiance?”

“Nah, I just- I dunno I didn’t like the way he did things. Back then he drowned some of the spider’s unborn babies. He had to do it. It was really the only way out, but,” Donna sighed. “I guess it was just the way he looked while he was doing it. He didn’t seem ready to stop even when they were all gone.”

“But you stopped him,” Ariel concluded with a nod.

“Yeah,” Donna said. “I had to. It was kind of horrible the way he looked then.”

“Well, I think that’s what the Doctor needs. I mean nine hundred years have gotta take their toll on him. He needs someone to stop him and tell him when enough is enough.”

“I suppose,” Donna shrugged. “It just freaked me out at first, you know?”

“Yeah, I can see that. When I first met him he seemed really protective, almost worried about what I could see him saying or doing. I guess that’s probably why,” Ariel said as she put the pancakes on plates and handed one to Donna.

“It’s good to know that he’s changed a bit since I last saw him,” Donna mumbled. “How about you?”

“How about me, what?” Ariel frowned.

“What about you? How did you meet the Doctor?”

“Oh, mine isn’t half as interesting as yours. I was walking home from school and walked straight into the side of the Tardis when it materialized in front of me,” Ariel sighed.

“Oh, I bet that was a sight,” Donna laughed.

“Yeah, turns out it was not as fun for my forehead after it slammed into the wood,” Ariel remarked and Donna chuckled.

“Well, he seems like he cares a lot for you,” Donna said.

“I care about him too,” Ariel sighed. “He’s the first real friend I’ve had in a while, and I dunno that means a lot to me,” she said.

Donna smiled and nodded. Before she could say anything else, the Doctor walked in, grinning wildly at them.

“Ancient Rome!” He exclaimed loudly, making Ariel jump in surprise.

She stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh, okay then,” she muttered.

“I just thought of it. It’s brilliant. A nice little trip to Ancient Rome to start the day and then maybe an alien planet, what'd ya say?” The Doctor asked.

Donna turned to Ariel with wide eyes. “Is it always like this?”

“Almost always,” Ariel nodded, sipping some orange juice as she did so.

Donna’s face brightened and she grinned at the Doctor. “Well, then let’s do it!” She laughed.

The Doctor chuckled and nodded, jumping out so he could set the coordinates on the Tardis.

“He’s happy you’re here,” Ariel nodded. “A life like his. I think he needs all the friends he can get.”

“Well, I love it here. Travelling across time and space. I was mad to give up that offer the first time.”

“You just weren’t ready,” Ariel shrugged. “At least you got a second chance.

“Yeah, and I can’t wait,” Donna grinned. “I’ll meet you down there, yeah?”

“Sure,” Ariel nodded. “I’m gonna go get changed anyway. See you later.”

“See you later. Wait, hold on,” Donna said, holding up a hand. “How do I dress for Ancient Rome?” She wondered.

“Just wear whatever you’d like,” Ariel shrugged. “So long as it’s not revealing you should be good. So, long skirts or trousers and sleeves,” Ariel advised.

“Thanks,” Donna smiled.

“No problem,” Ariel said before heading off to her room.

She got changed into a knee length dress with sleeves and some sandals and headed back out just in time to watch the Doctor land the Tardis.

The trio stepped out onto the streets to find the Doctor had them parked in a small curtained off alcove. They stepped out and saw the streets lined with vendors of various good.

Ariel sighed happily at the sight, spinning so that she could take it all in while Donna was practically jumping with glee.

“Ancient Rome,” the Doctor announced loudly. “Well, not for them, obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome,” he chuckled.

Ariel laughed and took his hand, swinging it happily at the sight. Above all else, she always enjoyed going back in time. It was one of her favorite trips that they took.

“Oh, my God. it's, it's so Roman. This is fantastic,” Donna sighed, grinning at the citizens of Rome.

Ariel giggled and the Doctor laughed at the remark.

“I used to read all about the Romans in history class at primary school. They were my favorite subject,” Ariel said. “All the Roman gods and goddesses. It all just seemed so different and yet incredible.”

“Ah, the Roman gods, so famously bearing the same names as the planets of the Milky Way,” the Doctor sighed. “Quite the story.”

“I like Jupiter,” Ariel grinned.

“Jupiter,” he said. “The supreme god of the Roman pantheon. Also called shining father. King of the gods,” the Doctor smirked. “Quite the remarkable man if I do say so myself.”

“Sorry, but have you lot just missed the fact that we’re actually here in Rome?!” Donna exclaimed happily. “I'm here, in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome. This is just weird. I mean, everyone here's dead.”

“Well, don’t tell them that,” the Doctor replied with wide eyes before falling into laughter alongside Ariel.

“Hold on a minute,” Donna froze, staring at a sign just behind them. “That signs in English,” she said, pointing to a sign that read: _two amphorae for the price of one._ “Are you two having me on?” Donna frowned. “Are we in Epcot?”

Ariel snorted. She couldn’t imagine the Doctor taking a single step inside Epcot. Not when he could have the real deal.

“No, no, no, no. That's the Tardis translation circuits,” the Doctor assured her. “Just makes it look like English. Speech as well. You're talking Latin right now.”

“It’s the sort of thing you wish you had in 8th year French class,” Ariel shrugged.

“Seriously?” Donna smiled.

“Mmm,” the Doctor nodded.

“I just said seriously in Latin,” Donna scoffed.

“Oh, yeah,” Ariel smirked.

“What if I said something in actual Latin, like veni, vidi, vici? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said veni, vidi, vici to that lot, what would it sound like?” Donna wondered.

Ariel frowned and looked up at the Doctor, genuinely curious about what the result of that would be.

“I'm not sure,” the Doctor muttered. “You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?” He sighed and Ariel giggled.

“I’m going to try it,” Donna grinned.

Donna waltzed up to a fruit seller awkwardly, beaming at the man as she did so.

“Afternoon, sweetheart. What can I get you, my love?” The stallholder asked kindly, smiling politely at Donna.

Donna glanced back at Ariel and the Doctor and they gave her a reassuring nod before she turned back to the man.

“Er, veni, vidi, vici,” she said, visibly wincing as she did so.

“Huh?” The man frowned, leaning closer to Donna as though he hadn’t heard her properly. “Sorry?” He narrowed his eyes at Donna as if she were a book he was trying to read in a foreign language. “Me no speak Celtic,” he said loudly like many people do when they approach someone speaking a different tongue. For some reason, all people believe that if they speak louder then someone who doesn’t speak their language could magically understand them. “No can do, missy.”

“Yeah,” Donna hummed, backing away slowly from the rude man and turning back to Ariel and the Doctor, both with bemused grins etched onto their faces.

“How’s he mean Celtic?” Donna frowned.

“Welsh,” Ariel said. “You sound Welsh.”

“There we are,” the Doctor smiled. “Learnt something,” he said before guiding them along the street further.

Donna watched the other Romans warily and frowned at what they were wearing in comparison to the others. “Don’t our clothes look a bit odd?” She wondered.

“I told you,” Ariel said. “As long as you have yourself covered, people couldn’t care less.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor nodded. “Ancient Rome, anything goes,” he shrugged. “It's like Soho, but bigger.”

“You’ve been here before then?” Donna prompted, looking at the pair of him.

“Not me, no,” Ariel said. “I’m just a quick learner. I went to the year five billion on an alien planet with just some overalls and a shirt and nobody said anything. I doubt they’ll care if I wear a dress in Ancient Rome.”

“I’ve been here before,” the Doctor said. “Ages ago. Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me,” he insisted. When both the women met him with unconvinced glares, he chuckled and shrugged. “Well, a little bit. But I haven't got the chance to look around properly. Coliseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus. You'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything? Try this way,” he said, waving them out into a piazza.

Instead of the seven hills of Rome that one expects, there was just one giant mountain at the very end of the street filled with vendors.

“Not an expert, but there's seven hills of Rome, aren't there? How come they've only got one?” Donna wondered.

The Doctor and Ariel both shared befuddled glances.

Just then, the ground started to rumble beneath their feet. Ariel fell straight into the Doctor’s arms and Donna clung onto one of the stands while all the vendors grabbed their most valuable goods so they wouldn’t take a tumble.

On the top of the mountain, thin wisps of smoke started blowing out and Ariel felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

“Wait a minute. One mountain, with smoke. Which makes this-,” Donna began.

“Pompeii,” the Doctor finished with a horrified nod as he helped Ariel back to her feet. “We’re in Pompeii. And it’s volcano day.”

“So much for a pleasant trip to Ancient Rome,” Ariel sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 5 April 2018


	7. The Oracles

The Doctor, Donna and Ariel all bolted back to where the Doctor had parked the Tardis, anxious to escape before the volcano exploded and wiped them out. However, when they returned to the spot, there was a vacant piece of street where the Tardis had been.

The trio skidded to a stop, hearts pounding in their ears as they breathlessly stared at the empty spot.

“You're kidding,” Donna breathed. “You're not telling me the Tardis has gone.”

“Okay,” the Doctor nodded and Ariel snorted. It was always in the most stressful moments that the Doctor found a way to brighten the mood.

“Where is it then?” Donna wondered.

“You told me not to tell you,” the Doctor replied simply.

Ariel covered her mouth to conceal her laughter as Donna glared at the Doctor.

“Oi. Don’t get clever in Latin,” Donna snapped with her hands on her hips.

The Doctor smiled quickly at the pair of them and peered around at the vendors, curious if any of them had seen what might have happened to the large blue police box.

“Hold on,” he said, holding up a hand to tell them to wait there. Ariel followed his line of sight curiously and nodded when she saw him approaching a foot vendor.

“Excuse me. Excuse me. There was a box. Big blue box. Big blue wooden box, just over there. Where's it gone?” The Doctor asked.

“Sold it, didn’t I?” The fruit vendor smirked.

“You sold it?” Ariel frowned with wide eyes.

“But it wasn’t yours to sell,” the Doctor reasoned, shaking his head dumbfoundedly with wide eyes.

“It was on my patch, weren't it?” The vendor shrugged. “I got fifteen sesterces for it. Lovely jubbly,” he smiled.

Ariel rolled her eyes, spinning around and sighing in frustration as she raked her fingers through her hair.

“Who’d you sell it to?” The Doctor asked.

“Old Caecilius,” the vendor said.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ariel muttered.

“Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street. Big villa. Can't miss it,” the vendor instructed.

The Doctor nodded and grabbed Ariel’s hand, heading back to Donna.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Ariel mumbled. “Has the Tardis ever gone missing before?”

“Oh, loads of times,” the Doctor nodded. “It’s pretty much horrible each and every time, but I always get it back in the end. No, what I really want to know is what’d he buy a big blue wooden box for?”

“And how the hell did he get it out of the market?” Ariel wondered with a small laugh.

“Also, a very good question,” the Doctor nodded, grinning down at her.

“What’s going on?” Donna frowned. “Where’s the Tardis?”

“Someone bought it,” Ariel said.

“What are you kidding?” Donna said, glancing at the Doctor and Ariel. “Someone bought the Tardis?”

“Yep,” the Doctor nodded. “And now we have to go track it down.”

“Tracking down an alien ship in Pompeii on volcano day,” Donna sighed. “Travelling with you lot is a riot,” Donna remarked.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look, laughing as the Doctor wrapped his arm around Ariel’s shoulders and they headed on their way to Old Caecilius’s home.

“Let’s hope Old Caecilius is willing to give up something he clearly found worthy of spending fifteen sesterces on,” Ariel sighed.

“Oh, he’d better,” the Doctor nodded. “I’ll give him back his money if he wants but I’m getting you lot out of here before that volcano erupts,” the Doctor promised.

Ariel grinned and nodded happily, falling into step alongside the Doctor while Donna hung back, anxiously glancing around the streets at all the people unaware of what would be hitting them in mere hours.

The Doctor and Ariel continued to joke and laugh as they walked while Donna just had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the very thought of what was about to befall the unsuspecting city.

The Doctor spun around to face Donna. “Donna!” He called. “Ariel and I are gonna look up ahead and see if we can’t find Foss Street.  The vendor said Caecilius lives along there. Do you mind checking down that way and looking for it? We can meet up here,” the Doctor said.

Donna hesitated for a moment, taking a second to pull herself out of her horrid thoughts about what would happen to the laughing children running past her. When she did, she flashed a fake smile at the Doctor and nodded. “Sure, not a problem,” she assured him.

The Doctor frowned at her, sensing there was something bothering her but unable to put his finger on it. Eventually, he gave in with a shrug and turned back to Ariel, quickly laughing at a joke she made as they walked.

Donna took a deep breath and headed on her way, looking out for a place where she could gather the city and warn everyone about what was coming.

When she met back up with the Doctor and Ariel, the trio practically ran into each other. The Doctor and Ariel, buzzing with excitement at the fact that they could finally leave Pompeii while Donna was radiant with joy as she knew that she and the others could save the whole city of Pompeii.

“Ha!” The Doctor exclaimed. “We’ve got it. Foss Street’s this way,” he said, pointing towards the direction he and Ariel just walked back from.

“No,” Donna said and Ariel’s smile fell.

“Sorry, what?” Ariel prompted.

“Well, I found this big sort of amphitheatre thing. We can start there. We can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?” Donna wondered.

“What do you want a bell for?” Ariel asked.

“To warn everyone. Start the evacuation. What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?” Donna asked, glancing rapidly at the Doctor and Ariel.

The Doctor looked down at Ariel with wide eyes and a small frown, as confused as she was.

Ariel knew as well as anyone that Pompeii is a pivotal point in history. It forced people to learn more about volcanoes and actually invented the word. Without Pompeii, people wouldn’t have realized the very real risk that volcanoes posed. It was a necessary point in history, and Donna was just trying to change it like it was nothing. Ariel had to admit, her actions were admirable, just pointless.

"It's 79AD, twenty third of August, which makes volcano day tomorrow," the Doctor said with large eyes, trying to make Donna understand the very real threat they were facing.

“Plenty of time,” Donna shrugged. “We could get everyone out easy.”

“Yeah, except we’re not going to,” the Doctor sighed, spinning away from her and raking his fingers through his already messy hair in exhaustion.

“But that’s what you do,” Donna frowned. “You’re the Doctor,” she reminded him. “You save people.”

“Donna, we can’t save these people,” Ariel breathed, watching Donna with sad eyes.

“Not this time,” the Doctor said, nodding in agreement with Ariel. “Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is no stopping it.”

“Wha- Says who?” Donna asked, hands on her hips, ready to put up a fight.

“Says me,” the Doctor retorted.

“What, and you’re in charge?” Donna said, glaring up at the Doctor.

Ariel decided it was best not to step in the middle of that and stepped to the side with wide eyes.

When one of the vendors raised an eyebrow at her, nodding his head towards the Doctor and Donna, Ariel shrugged.

“I dunno them, mate,” she shrugged, acting completely astounded by the pair arguing in the middle of the street.

“Tardis, Time Lord, yeah,” the Doctor snapped.

“Donna, human, no,” Donna retorted. “I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself,” Donna shrugged.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Ariel warned, taking a tentative step towards the pair.

“Oh, what, you’re taking his side now?!” Donna exclaimed.

“I’m not taking anybody’s side, I’m just saying,” Ariel sighed. “Y’know all those mad people who sit on street corners and ramble about government mind control rubbish or something like that? That’s who you would be here,” Ariel said.

The Doctor nodded. “You stand in the marketplace announcing the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer. Now, come on. Tardis. We are getting out of here,” the Doctor said, grabbing her hand and practically dragging her to Foss Street with Ariel following closely behind.

“Well, I might just have something to say about that, Spaceman,” Donna warned.

“Oh, I bet you will,” the Doctor chuckled with a small nod.

They headed up to the large villa the vendor had told them about. The Doctor nodded to the women and Donna sighed softly while Ariel just grinned, happy to get out of a town that would be destroyed by a volcano in a day. It was easy to help a town that you could most likely save but when it was a town that history said was destined to fall was a completely different story.

As they headed inside, the ground started to shake and Ariel tumbled forwards, nearly falling on her face before the Doctor caught her in one hand and a marble bust on a nearby table in the other.

“Thanks,” Ariel sighed. “Again,” she frowned.

The Doctor chuckled. “Not a problem,” he muttered. “There you go!” He exclaimed, placing the marble bust delicately back on the table for the family inside. He wrapped his arm around Ariel as Donna tiptoed forward behind them, wary of another mini quake.

“Thank you, kind sir. I'm afraid business is closed for the day. I'm expecting a visitor,” the old man of the house said as he walked towards the trio.

“But that’s me,” the Doctor smiled. “I’m a visitor. Hello,” he waved.

“Who are you?” The man frowned.

The Doctor took a deep breath, unsure of what he should introduce himself as. He couldn’t exactly introduce himself as John Smith in Ancient Rome. He frowned as his mind raced with a quick alias.

“I am Spartacus,” the Doctor smiled proudly.

Ariel snorted, covering her mouth to conceal her laughter in front of the people who didn’t know better.

Donna seemed highly amused by the idea and stepped forward, ready to join in on the joke.

“And so am I,” Donna nodded.

Ariel rolled her eyes, a grin brighter than one she’d had for years before meeting the Doctor painted across her face. “Aw, what the hell,”  Ariel mumbled. “I am as well,” she smiled.

“Mr and Mrs Spartacus?” The old man prompted, pointing between the Doctor and Donna. “Ah, and you must be their daughter,” he nodded.

“Wha- Do I look old enough to have an eighteen-year-old daughter?!” Donna exclaimed. “Seriously?!”

“Oh no, no, no. We're not, we're not married,” the Doctor assured the man with wide, horrified eyes.

“Yeah, no. we’re not a couple and she is most certainly not my daughter,” Donna said.

As Donna and the Doctor both rambled on about how they weren’t a family, Ariel hid her amusement well as her body shook with laughter.

“Oh, then siblings?” The man guessed. “Yes, of course. You all look very much alike,” he remarked.

The trio all exchanged looks with confused frowns. “Really?” They said simultaneously.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not open for trade,” the man sighed, turning away and ignoring their confusion.

“And what trade would that be?” The Doctor wondered.

“Marble. Lopus Caecilius. Mining, polishing and design thereof. If you want marble, I'm your man,” the old man grinned.

“That's good,” the Doctor nodded. “That's good, because we’re the marble inspectors,” the Doctor said. He pulled out his psychic paper and flashed it to Caecilius.

Caecilius jumped, spinning around wildly in shock.

The red haired older woman in the corner gasped loudly. “By the gods of commerce, an inspection. I'm sorry, sir. I do apologise for my son,” she breathed. She bolted over to a young dark-haired man near her and yanked his goblet out of his hands, glaring at him as she did so.

She poured away his goblet of wine, much to his displeasure.

“Oi,” he snapped.

“And this is my good wife, Metella,” Caecilius introduced, gesturing to the older red-head who smiled kindly at the trio. “I must confess, we're not prepared for a-.”

“Nothing to worry about,” the Doctor shook his head, cutting him off mid-sentence. “I'm, I'm sure you've nothing to hide,” the Doctor shrugged, marching past Caecilius as he glanced around the room, silently hunting for his Tardis.

Ariel and Donna did the same until Ariel laid eyes on a large blue wooden box.

“Although!” Ariel proclaimed loudly as she leant on the side of the Tardis. “This does seem to be made of an awful lot of wood,” she remarked.

The Doctor grinned at the sight of the Tardis while Caecilius and Martella both paled. “I told you to get rid of it,” Martella reprimanded, slapping her husband lightly on the arm.

Meanwhile, Caecilius looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar as Ariel smirked at him and he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for the box of wood.

“I only bought it today,” Caecilius mumbled, shrugging awkwardly.

“Ah, well. Caveat emptor,” the Doctor said, marching over to Ariel and wrapping an arm around her as he stared at the couple pointedly.

“Oh, you’re Celtic,” Caecilius frowned, clearly unimpressed. “That’s lovely,” he said sarcastically.

“I'm sure it's fine, but I might have to take it off your hands for a proper inspection,” the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly, acting as though taking back his home was just no big deal.

“Although,” Donna sighed, approaching the pair. “While we're here, wouldn't you recommend a holiday, Spartacus?”

The Doctor and Ariel exchanged a frown.

“Don’t know what you mean, Spartacus,” the Doctor muttered.

“Oh, this lovely family. Mother and father and son. Don't you think they should get out of town?” Donna asked.

“Why should we do that?” Caecilius frowned.

“Well the volcano, for starters,” Donna shrugged and Ariel’s heart stopped.

“What?” Caecilius said, staring at the woman like she had just gone mad.

“Volcano,” Donna repeated with a nod.

“What ano?” Caecilius prompted.

“We need to do something,” Ariel breathed.

“I have an idea. Just go along with it,” the Doctor instructed and Ariel nodded, wary of stepping in and seeming just as mad as Donna appeared to the couple.

“That great big volcano right on your doorstep!” Donna exclaimed.

“Oh, Spartacus, for shame,” the Doctor hummed, grabbing Donna’s arm and guiding her away from the family. Ariel took Donna’s other arm and did the same. “We haven’t greeted the household gods yet,” the Doctor muttered, coming up with a quick explanation for the family.

“Donna, you can’t do that. That mountain out there is just a mountain to them,” Ariel said.

The Doctor nodded. “They don't know what it is. Vesuvius is just a mountain to them. The top hasn't blown off yet. The Romans haven't even got a word for volcano. Not until tomorrow,” he told her.

“To them, that mountain out there is the god's way of communicating with them,” Ariel said.

“Oh, great,” Donna muttered. “They can learn a new word as they die.”

“Donna, stop it,” the Doctor snapped.

“Listen, I don't know how Ariel allowed you to treat her before I arrived,” Donna began, glaring at the Doctor.

“Oi!” Ariel exclaimed.

“But you're not telling me to shut up,” Donna finished, ignoring Ariel’s outrage. “That boy, how old is he, sixteen? And tomorrow he burns to death.”

“And that’s my fault?” The Doctor frowned.

“Right now, yes,” Donna nodded.

“Donna!” Ariel snapped.

“What?” Donna frowned. “You said it yourself. Sometimes he needs someone to tell him when enough is enough.”

“This is different, Donna. This is history. I’ve learned about Pompeii ever since third year. It taught people what they need to know about volcanoes and how to save others from the same fate.”

“Well, that family at least deserves a shot,” Donna muttered.

Before the Doctor could say anything else, a man’s servant walked in just before a middle-aged man wearing a cloak over the right half of his body.

“Announcing Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government,” the servant said.

The middle-aged man walked inside and Caecilius grinned at the sight. “Lucius!” He exclaimed. “My pleasure, as always.”

“Quintus, stand up,” Metella snapped at her son who was relaxing, sitting down seemingly careless about the presence of their visitors.

“A rare and great honour, sir, for you to come to my house,” Caecilius sighed. He held out his hand, but Lucius didn’t take it.

Instead, he walked past Caecilius, hardly paying any attention to the man and his wife.

“The birds are flying north, and the wind is in the west,” Lucius breathed.

“Quite. Absolutely,” Caecilius nodded awkwardly. “That’s good, is it?” He frowned.

“Only the grain of wheat knows where it will grow,” Lucius muttered.

“There now, Metella,” Caecilius said, tapping his wife’s arm kindly. “Have you ever heard such wisdom?”

“Never,” Metella breathed. “It’s an honour.”

Ariel raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the Doctor and he shrugged. She had seen wisdom far beyond what Lucius was reciting and it seemed Lucius just wanted people to believe he was smart so they would admire him. None of it seemed authentic.

“Pardon me, sir. I have guests. This is Spartacus, Spartacus, and, er, Spartacus,” Caecilius introduced awkwardly, gesturing to the trio.

“A name is but a cloud upon a summer wind,” Lucius sighed.

“But the wind is felt most keenly in the dark,” Ariel retorted, smirking knowingly at Lucius.

She could fight back with some superior intelligence. Anything would be better than listening to him ramble aimlessly.

“Ah. But what is the dark, other than an omen of the sun?” Lucius challenged.

“I concede that every sun must set,” Ariel nodded.

“Ha,” Lucius smiled.

“But the son of the father must also rise,” Ariel smirked.

“Damn,” Lucius muttered, grinning as he looked up at his worthy rival. “Very clever, ma’am. Evidently a woman of learning,” he remarked, holding out his hand to shake hers.

Ariel looked up at the Doctor with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden turn of events. However, the Doctor was just caught staring down at her in awe. He was wildly impressed by the woman before him. She was gorgeous, speaking words of poetry to Lucius. The Doctor admired her from the inside out. Her beauty, her intelligence and her kindness all wrapped her up into an amazing woman.

Ariel shrugged and turned back to Lucius, missing the love and admiration pouring from the Doctor. Ever since he had told her about Martha, she had just naturally assumed he didn’t fall in love with Earth women and by default, she didn’t stand a chance.

“Don’t mind me,” she smiled. “I don’t want to disturb the status quo,” she said, gesturing between Lucius, Caecilius and Metella, clearly referring to the fact that Lucius acts like he is much higher and far more important than the couple.

“She’s Celtic,” Caecilius explained with a shrug.

“We’ll be off in a minute,” the Doctor announced.

“I’m not going,” Donna said immediately and the Doctor and Ariel turned to her with wide eyes.

Caecilius and the others decided to momentarily ignore the trio and carry on with their business exchange.

“It’s ready,” Caecilius told Lucius, waving him to the side.

“What do you mean you’re not going?” Ariel frowned.

“You’ve got to,” the Doctor nodded.

“Well, I’m not,” Donna shrugged.

“Come on, Donna. We can discuss this in the Tardis. There’s nothing we can do here,” Ariel sighed. “I can explain it more in the Tardis, but you have to come with us.”

“No,” Donna insisted. “I’m not leaving them.”

The Doctor and Ariel turned back to look at the family in exhaustion when they spotted a large marble board with carvings in it made to look like a circuit.

“Exactly as you specified,” Caecilius nodded to Lucius as he handed the board to him. “It pleases you, sir?”  He prompted.

“As the rain pleases the soil,” Lucius sighed, inspecting the circuit further.

“Doctor, is that-?” Ariel prompted.

“Oh, now that's different. Who designed that, then?” The Doctor asked, peering over the men's shoulders.

“My Lord Lucius was very specific,” Caecilius replied.

“Where’d you get the pattern?” The Doctor wondered.

“On the rain and mist and wind,” Lucius said ominously making Ariel roll her eyes.

“But that looks like a circuit,” Donna murmured.

“Made of stone,” the Doctor nodded.

“Just what I was thinking,” Ariel sighed.

“Do you mean you just dreamt that thing up?” Donna prompted with a frown.

“That is my job, as City Augur,” Lucius nodded.

Donna snorted. “What’s that, then, like the mayor?” She frowned.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she pulled Donna away from the others while the Doctor flashed an apologetic smile.

“Oh, ha. You must excuse my friend, she's from Barcelona,” he shrugged, before turning back to them.

“Donna, he isn't the mayor, this is Ancient Rome, they do things a bit differently and instead of believing some mad soothsayers, I remember reading about how they paid a man to tell the future for them,” Ariel explained awkwardly.

“This is an age of superstition. Of official superstition. The Augur is paid by the city to tell the future. The wind will blow from the west? That's the equivalent of ten o'clock news,” the Doctor said.

Donna was nodding along in understanding when a young woman with dark hair came into the room swaying, pale and appearing as though she hadn’t eaten for weeks.

“They're laughing at us,” the woman said breathlessly. “Those three, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us,” she said, pointing a shaky finger at the trio who stared at her with wide eyes.

“No, no, I'm not. I meant no offence,” the Doctor assured them.

“I'm sorry. My daughter's been consuming the vapours,” Metella said, flashing a polite smile and trying to coerce her daughter back to her room.

“Oh for gods, Mother. What have you been doing to her?” Quintus asked, watching his sister in horror.

“Now now, Quintus,” Metella snapped.

“Yeah, but she’s sick,” Quintus insisted. “Just look at her.”

“He’s right ma’am. Your daughter does look very ill,” Ariel remarked, obvious concern reflected in her eyes.

“I gather I have a rival in this household. Another with the gift,” Lucius said loudly, marching towards Metella’s daughter.

“Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood. They say she has remarkable visions,” Metella beamed.

“The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception,” Lucius snapped.

“Oi, I’ll show you limited and dull!” Ariel yelled, marching towards him furiously before the Doctor grabbed her wrist and swung her back towards him before she could cause a stir.

“I’ll tell you where the wind’s blowing now, mate,” Donna said bitterly, her arms crossed. She had spotted what the Doctor did when Ariel tried to openly speak out and she decided quiet anger was best in that moment.

There was a small tremor and Lucius turned to them with a picture perfect movie villain grin.

“The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you,” Lucius warned the women and Ariel looked up at the Doctor with wide, horrified eyes.

The Doctor gently pushed Ariel behind him and marched up to Lucius. “Consuming the vapors, you say?” He prompted.

“They give me strength,” the young woman breathed.

“It doesn’t look like it to me,” the Doctor remarked.

“Is that your opinion as a doctor?” She asked and simultaneously each of the trio’s hearts stopped.

“I beg your pardon?” The Doctor prompted, his eyes momentarily growing large.

“Doctor. That’s your name,” she said simply.

“How do you know that?” The Doctor wondered.

Instead, of answering his question she turned her attention to Donna.

“And you. You call yourself Noble,” the woman breathed.

“Now then, Evelina,” Metella reprimanded her daughter. “Don’t be rude.”

“No, no, no, no. Let her talk,” the Doctor said, holding up a hand to show Metella it was okay.

“You three come from so far away,” Evelina mumbled

“The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries,” Lucius muttered bitterly.

Ariel snorted. He was just upset because Evelina was proving to be more impressive than he ever was.

"Oh, not this time, Lucius," the Doctor hummed. "No, I reckon you've been out-soothsayed," he said, voicing Ariel's exact thoughts. 

“Is that so, man from Gallifrey?” Lucius retorted and Ariel’s heart plummeted into her stomach.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“What?” The Doctor snapped at Lucius.

“The strangest of images. Your home is lost in fire, is it not?” Lucius prompted.

“What the hell is going on?” Ariel mumbled. At first she had assumed she was surrounded by false oracles, but they all seemed to know things that they couldn’t possibly know about.

“Only destiny, daughter of Winchester,” Lucius said, rounding on her.

“How do you know where I was born?” Ariel breathed.

“The same way I know of the mother you abandoned and the father you left to die,” Lucius hissed. “You care for him, don’t you? The man out of time. You care for him but fear for the day he uncovers your darkest secrets. Well, hear this daughter of Winchester, you will tell him all. You will tell him on his dying day.”

“Doctor!” Ariel shrieked.

“You stay away from her! Leave her alone!” The Doctor yelled.

“She terrifies you,” Evalina muttered. “She scares you because she reminds you of the one you lost. The north wind blows and always carries away those you love. You fear she shall meet the same fate.”

“Doctor, what are they doing?” Donna asked.

“And you, daughter of London,” Lucius said, turning to her quickly.

“How does he know that?” Donna breathed.

“This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth,” Lucius replied simply.

“Oh, he tells her but not me,” Ariel mumbled bitterly.

“That’s impossible,” Donna muttered.

“Doctor, she is returning,” Evalina said.

The Doctor turned to her so fast, Ariel could’ve sworn he got whiplash.

“Who is? Who’s she?” The Doctor asked furiously.

"Ariel, he will return as well," Evalina breathed.

"What?!" Ariel exclaimed.

"He will return only to be stolen from you as his love was stolen from him," she said, nodding vaguely to the Doctor as she spoke.

“And you, daughter of London. There is something on your back,” Lucius warned and Donna spun around, desperately trying to get a look at her back.

When she found nothing, she turned back to the Doctor and Ariel with terror striking her eyes. “What’s that mean?!” She exclaimed.

“Even the word Doctor is false. Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord of Time,” Evalina gasped before collapsing, falling unconscious in her mother’s arms.

The trio shared shell-shocked expressions, unsure if they could even work out what had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 6 April 2018


	8. Pyrovile

Ariel rested her head on the Doctor’s shoulder as he rubbed her back soothingly. After Lucius had invaded her mind and her future without her permission, she had a bit more shaken up than the Doctor and Donna. Hearing someone tear through her darkest secrets so openly shattered her. The Doctor noticed and quickly reassured her that if she wanted to go back into the Tardis, he wouldn’t push her into anything she wasn’t ready for but she knew the Doctor and she knew he would help her when she needed so she reassured him she was fine and stayed by his side.

The Doctor leant down and removed the hypocaust grill, peering down at it as Caecilius sat down by their side.

“Different sort of hypocaust?” The Doctor guessed.

“Oh, yes,” Caecilius nodded. “We're very advanced in Pompeii. In Rome, they're still using the old wood-burning furnaces, but we've got hot springs, leading from Vesuvius itself.”

“Who thought of that?” The Doctor asked, seemingly fascinated by the very concept.

“The soothsayers, after the great earthquake, seventeen years ago. An awful lot of damage. But we rebuilt,” Caecilius nodded.

“Didn't you think of moving away? Oh no, then again, San Francisco,” the Doctor smiled, hugging Ariel tightly trying to coerce something out of her but all he received was a ghost of a grin. The Doctor sighed softly and hung his head. There was nothing he'd like more than to just be able to help the girl smile.

“That’s a new restaurant in Naples, isn’t it?” Caecilius frowned.

The Doctor pulled the grate off of the hypocaust grill and peered inside, narrowing his eyes at the bright fires. As he did so, there was a loud growling that echoed up inside from the very depths making Ariel inhale sharply and grow tense.

The Doctor tightened his hold on her and frowned at Caecilius. "What's that noise?" He asked.

“Don't know,” Caecilius shrugged. “Happens all the time. They say the gods of the Underworld are stirring.”

“But after the earthquake, let me guess. Is that when the soothsayers started making sense?” The Doctor assumed.

“Oh, yes, very much so,” Caecilius nodded. “I mean, they'd always been, shall we say, imprecise? But then the soothsayers, the augurs, the haruspex, all of them, they saw the truth again and again. It's quite amazing. They can predict crops and rainfall with absolute precision.”

“Haven’t they said anything about tomorrow?” The Doctor wondered.

“No. Why, should they?” Caecilius frowned, ever the one for superstition. “Why do you ask?”

“No, no,” the Doctor assured him, waving his hand to signal that it was no big deal. He could sense the man’s growing concern and didn’t want to alarm him or make him believe that he could be an oracle. “No reason. I’m just asking. But the soothsayers, they all consume the vapours, yeah?”

Caecilius nodded. “That’s how they see.”

“Ipso facto,” the Doctor hummed. He put on his little brown glasses and leant over the hypocaust to stick his hand inside. “They’re all consuming this,” the Doctor muttered, sprinkling some dust down onto the floor.

“Dust,” Caecilius breathed.

“Tiny particles of rock,” the Doctor nodded. “They’re breathing in Vesuvius.”

“Does that mean that Lucius bloke is breathing that in too?” Ariel mumbled, clenching the bottom of her dress in her fists.

“Yes, yes it does,” the Doctor hummed. “Which also means we will be needing to pay a visit to Mister Lucius Petrus Dextrus,” the Doctor said. He stood up, brushing the dust off his hands and onto his suit. He took off his glasses and smiled kindly at Ariel. “Are you feeling up for a quick trip?”

“As long as I don’t have to go through that again, I’ll be alright,” Ariel nodded.

“Brilliant,” the Doctor grinned. “I knew you had it in you.” He held out his hand and she took it graciously, standing up and looking down at Caecilius.

“Caecilius, do you mind taking care of our mate back there while we’re gone? We should be back before the end of the night,” the Doctor said.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. Last I saw she had wandered off with Metella. I doubt it’ll be much trouble,” Caecilius shrugged.

“Thanks,” the Doctor smiled.

“If she asks where we are, just tell her we were looking into the soothsayer’s abilities,” Ariel said.

Caecilius nodded. “Will do.”

“Now,” the Doctor sighed. “Who would know where the great Lucius Petrus Dextrus lives?” He muttered.

Ariel smirked and peered across the room at Quintus lounging on a sofa drinking wine.

“I always find, in novels, it’s the ones that people think the least of that know a lot,” Ariel said.

The Doctor grinned as he followed her line of sight towards Quintus. “Marvellous.”

They marched over to Quintus standing hand in hand as they watched him. He quickly felt their eyes on him and turned slowly, raising an eyebrow at the pair. “Can I help you?” Quintus prompted.

“Quintus, me old son. This Lucius Petrus Dextrus. Where does he live?” The Doctor asked.

“It’s nothing to do with me,” Quintus shrugged before carrying on drinking.

Ariel sighed softly and smirked at the Doctor. “Let me try,” she muttered.

He frowned but nodded and stepped back.

Ariel took a seat beside Quintus on the sofa slowly, sighing as she sat down. She delicately brushed some stray hairs out of his face and smiled softly at him, batting her eyes in just the way that made every man crumble. She had seen the girls at her school do it all too many times. They used their charm and a man's desperation to do anything for the girl that paid him a moment of attention to their advantage. Now, it was her turn to do the same. “Now, this Lucius Petrus Dextrus. Where does he live?” She said speaking softly and innocently, just enough to make Quintus fall apart.

Quintus gulped harshly and spilled a bit of his wine. “Er, I-I can take you there. If you want,” he shrugged.

Ariel flashed a grin at the Doctor and he just stared at her with wide eyes, apparently her efforts had worked just a bit too well.

Ariel got up and Quintus scrambled to his feet, staring at the Doctor and Ariel awkwardly. “I-I’ll go get a torch,” he said before darting off.

“If I’ve learned one thing from secondary school, blokes who drink a lot and lounge around the house all day want nothing more than the attention of a pretty girl. Or any girl that’s not related to him, rather,” Ariel frowned. They were always the ones the girls at school found easiest to bend to their whim, she smiled as she realized she had achieved just that with Quintus.

“Yeah, that-uh- that’s a plan,” the Doctor mumbled, still a bit out of it watching her flirt so shamelessly with the Roman boy. He had never thought she had that hidden confidence within her but now that he was seeing it, he found he held a dangerous attraction to it. He gulped harshly and shook his head. He couldn't make the mistake of falling for another human girl. Not again.

~~~

The Doctor, Ariel and Quintus all marched through the streets of Pompeii in the middle of the night. Quintus guided them to Lucius’s villa while the Doctor and Ariel stayed a few steps behind so the Doctor could talk to Ariel.

“What Lucius said back there-,” the Doctor began.

Ariel took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She knew this was coming. “I don’t wanna talk about it, okay?” Ariel said, praying that would be enough for the moment.

Of course, it wasn't.

“It’s just-,” the Doctor tried.

“Look, Doctor,” Ariel sighed, swinging around and illuminating his young yet ancient face with her torch. He was so effortlessly handsome. She wondered how she didn’t have every woman across time and space crushing on him. She took a deep breath and met his amber eyes. “A lot of stuff has happened with my parents growing up. I didn’t have any friends lasting over a year, so it was just them and I. Not all of it was good. It’s not something I really want to talk about in the middle of Pompeii in the dead of night.”

“I just wanted to say,” the Doctor sighed. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want. But if you decide you wanna tell me, I’ll wait,” he shrugged.

He started marching ahead and Ariel watched him leave with a breathless grin. She was wrong about him. The last guy she dated wanted to know all about what had happened with her father and pressed it to the point where she was uncomfortable. He was more than happy to leave it alone. She sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes. He was so perfect. He was perfect in every way. He was kind, protective, charming, handsome, and a bloody genius. And she couldn’t have him.

She sighed, knowing she shouldn’t let it get to her, but everytime her heart skipped a beat as she looked at him she was reminded of the one thing she could never have. It was incessant torture in the cruellest of forms.

She marched ahead as they started to approach Lucius’s villa.

“Don’t tell my dad,” Quintus requested, wincing as he imagined his father’s reaction.

The Doctor jumped up to a window and pushed it open, holding his hand out to Ariel afterwards. She kicked herself up the wall and grabbed his hand. He helped her inside slowly and grinned down at Quintus.

“Only if you don’t tell mine,” he said, winking at the young man. Quintus passed them the torch in his hands and they helped him inside, closing the window behind them.

They peered around warily, cautious of their surroundings knowing that Lucius could be lurking anywhere in the shadows encasing the room.

The Doctor tiptoed across the floor and fingered a long curtain concealing a small room behind it.

“I dunno about that, Doctor,” Ariel whispered, holding up a torch for him to see. This was horror movie rule number one. Don't inspect the strange hidden room.

“Trust me?” The Doctor asked, smirking at her.

Ariel hesitated, she wanted to say no and that her experience might be better in this instance, but found her gut instinct was to trust him. It didn't matter what was behind that curtain because she wasn't facing it alone. She wasn't on her own when facing the creatures that made her heart race a little faster and sweat trace her brow because she had the Doctor now.

“Yes,” she breathed.

The Doctor nodded and grinned. He took down the curtain and revealed a wall of marble stones with carvings like circuits in each of them. Ariel nearly dropped her torch as she backed away in shock.

“The liar,” Quintus muttered, glaring at the stones. “He told my father it was the only one.”

“Well, plenty of marble merchants in this town,” the Doctor shrugged. “Tell them all the same thing, get all the components from different places, so no one can see what you're building.”

“Okay, but what is he building?” Ariel wondered.

“The future, Miss Parsons,” Lucius announced and Ariel jumped so far backwards in terror she nearly knocked over the wall of circuits. “We are building the future, as dictated by the gods.”

~~~

Half an hour later, Ariel sat and watched as the Doctor rearranged the circuit boards into the perfect fashion. One that mirrored an actual circuit.

“Put this one there,” he instructed Quintus. “This one there. Er, keep that one upside down, and what you got?”

Ariel wasn’t sure if he was helping because he was genuinely trying to figure out what Lucius was building or if it was because the guards of Lucius’s house had arrived, but either way, she found herself drawn to the situation.

“Enlighten me,” Lucius said.

“What, the soothsayer doesn’t know?” The Doctor asked, almost smirking victoriously at the fact that the soothsayers didn’t really know _everything._

“The seed may float on the breeze in any direction,” Lucius muttered poetically.

Ariel rolled her eyes. “Of course, you would say that,” she sighed.

“Yeah, I knew you were going to say that,” the Doctor nodded. “But it's an energy converter.”

“An energy converter of what?” Lucius wondered.

“Yeah, what does it do?” Ariel frowned.

“I don't know,” the Doctor grinned. Looking at Ariel and Lucius and the circuits with a childlike grin. Ariel giggled at the very sight. “Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing. Keeps me on my toes. It must be awful being a prophet, waking up every morning, is it raining? Yes, it is, I said so. Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius, hmm? Who gave you these instructions?” The Doctor said, his grin falling and taking on a much colder, firmer gaze. The fire that Ariel adored burning bright in his eyes.

Lucius clenched his jaw and met him with the same stern look in his eyes. “I think you’ve babbled enough,” Lucius muttered.

“Lucius, really, tell me. Honestly, I'm on your side. I can help,” the Doctor said.

“You insult the gods. There can be only one sentence. At arms!” Lucius exclaimed and the guards by his sides drew their short swords, making Ariel jump back to the Doctor.

He grabbed her hand and sighed softly. “Oh, morituri te salutant,” the Doctor breathed and Ariel nodded alongside him.

“Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor grinned proudly at her.

“Celtic prayers won’t help you now,” Lucius snapped.

“But it was them, sir,” Quintus practically begged. “They made me do it. Mister Dextrus please don’t.”

“Come on now, Quintus, dignity in death,” the Doctor moaned.

“Yeah, never stare down the edge of a sword and start weeping. It just makes for rubbish last moments,” Ariel hummed and the Doctor nodded in agreement before turning his attention to Lucius.

“I respect your victory, Lucius. Shake on it? Come on. Dying man's wish?” The Doctor requested and Ariel narrowed her eyes at him. His tone was taking on that pleasant light-hearted one she had grown so used to hearing over the past few weeks and mirrored nothing of the tone she’d expect from a dying man.

She smirked as she realized, he had a way for them to escape.

Lucius seemed annoyed by the request but eventually sighed and nodded, holding out his hand hidden beneath his cloak to shake the Doctor’s.

Instead of shaking his hand, the Doctor tugged at it and pulled off an arm completely made of stone.

“Di Omnes!” Ariel exclaimed, staring at the arm with wide eyes.

“Argh,” Lucius moaned.

“But he’s,” Quintus breathed, unable to take his eyes off the arm like Ariel.

The Doctor turned back to Lucius with his jaw clenched. “Show me,” he mumbled.

Lucius glared at them but begrudgingly pulled back his cloak and revealed his entire right side made completely of stone.

“But that’s,” Ariel mumbled, her mind spinning around in circles trying to desperately keep up with what she was seeing.

“The work of the gods,” Lucius hummed.

“He’s stone,” Quintus muttered, staring at Lucius in horror.

“Armless enough, though,” the Doctor muttered. He held up the arm and tossed it directly at Lucius. “Whoops,” he smirked before taking off running past the guards who turned to their master to help. “Come on!” He cried to Ariel and Quintus who were still staring at Lucius, completely dumbfounded.

Ariel jumped at the Doctor’s shout and grabbed Quintus, nearly tearing him away from the sight so they could run with the Doctor.

“Quintus!” The Doctor called, holding out his hand. Quintus tossed him the torch and the Doctor used it to get a good look at the wall of circuits before sonicking them and thus unraveling all the work he had done.

“The carvings!” Lucius gasped as the trio made a speedy exit out of the window.

Quintus jumped out and the Doctor followed, he caught Ariel on her way down and grabbed her hand before they all ran back to Caecilius’s home.

Halfway there, the Doctor stopped and peered behind them while Ariel and Quintus caught their breath.

“No sign of them,” the Doctor sighed. “Nice bit of allons-y,” he smirked at Ariel who giggled in response. “I think we’re alright,” he nodded.

“But his arm, Doctor,” Quintus said. “Is that what’s happening to Evalina?”

“This is happening to her too?” Ariel frowned and Quintus nodded. Ariel looked up at the Doctor with wide eyes. “That must mean-,” she began.

The Doctor nodded, following her train of thought. “The soothsayers powers,” he muttered.

Just then there was a low rumble across the streets behind them. The trio turned back to the sound with confused frowns. As the rumble grew louder, a dog started barking at the sound a couple houses away from them.

“What was that?” The Doctor wondered.

The rumble continued to grow louder and seemingly closer.

“The mountain?” Quintus proposed.

As Ariel was able to listen closer to the sound the louder it got, she realized the rumbling sounded rhythmical. Like footsteps.

“No, no,” Ariel frowned. “It sounds like it’s heading closer,” she muttered. “Like it’s moving toward us.”

“Like footsteps,” the Doctor breathed.

“It can’t be,” Quintus said, staring at the pair as though they were mad.

Things started falling over outside the houses around them as the footsteps drew closer.

“Footsteps underground,” the Doctor mumbled, eyes fixated on the street beneath his feet.

“What is it?” Quintus asked. “What is it?”

“Run!” Ariel cried and the trio bolted down the street to Caecilius’s house while, along the way, the grills of hypocausts blew across the street.

When they finally reached the villa, the Doctor and Ariel raced inside while Quintus slammed the door shut, leaning on it as if that would stop a creature from underground getting inside.

“Caecilius?” The Doctor prompted. “All of you, get out,” the Doctor instructed.

“Doctor, what is it?” Donna asked.

“I think we’re being followed,” the Doctor breathed.

All of a sudden, the grill on the hypocaust in their house flew off like all the others.

“Oh, no,” Ariel mumbled.

“Just get out!” The Doctor yelled. He turned to Ariel. “Go! Get out!” He exclaimed.

Ariel shook her head, remembering the horrible guilt she had in the pit of her stomach when the Doctor had first taken the fall for her.

“I’m not gonna let you die for me again,” Ariel muttered. She didn’t want to just stand by and watch as he protected her and she did nothing to help. That wasn’t what friends do.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he froze momentarily before nodding accepting that he did not have the time nor the energy it would take to get her out when her eyes had taken on that glow of determination he had seen in many companions before.

The floor around the hypocaust cracked, and a large stone and fire creature appeared. As it stood, it nearly touched the ceiling. All around it, nobody heeded the Doctor’s warning and instead just stood in front of it, gaping up like small children.

“The gods are with us,” one of the servants breathed.

“Are you sure about this?” The Doctor prompted.

Ariel nodded. “Positive,” she said.

“Then, water,” the Doctor said. “Water. We need water!” He yelled so everybody could hear.

Ariel bolted across the room to get a bucket as the Doctor’s words seemed to be slowly forcing everybody into action.

“Quintus. All of you, get water. Donna!” The Doctor exclaimed.

Ariel snorted as she realized the Doctor reminded her of a children’s football coach. Ones she often saw that were far too dedicated to their job to be teaching little kids.

“Blessed we are to see the gods,” the servant murmured, ignoring the Doctor’s commands and stepping towards the creature.

“Wha-Hey, no get away from it!” Ariel screamed.

The creature breathed and burnt the servant to ashes instantly and Ariel’s posture sank as she watched his ashes fall to the ground.

“I warned you,” she muttered. She couldn’t exactly help it if some fool decided he would step up right beside a creature that was literally made of fire and stone. She sighed and started to get some water while the Doctor diverted the creature’s attention.

“Talk to me,” the Doctor requested. “That's all I want. Talk to me. Just tell me you are. Don't hurt these people. Talk to me. I'm the Doctor. Just tell me who you are.”

Ariel and Quintus ran up with some water but Quintus froze and frowned at Ariel when he saw the Doctor was talking to the creature. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question of whether or not they should still kill it and Ariel nodded firmly.

They both threw up their buckets of water making the fire in the creature go out. It solidified then cracked and crumbled to the floor, forcing Ariel to jump back so the creature’s fallen body didn’t hit her.

“What was it?” Caecilius breathed.

“Carapace of stone, held together by internal magma. Not too difficult to stop, but I reckon that's just the foot soldier,” the Doctor hummed.

“More are coming,” Ariel breathed with wide eyes.

“Doctor, or whatever your name is, you bring bad luck on this house,” Metella sneered.

The Doctor turned back to her with a clenched jaw. “I thought your son was brilliant. Aren't you going to thank him?” He snapped.

While Quintus scrambled over to his mother, Ariel bolted up to the Doctor.

“Doctor, do you think that might be from whatever’s giving the soothsayers their power?” Ariel asked.

“I dunno. Possibly,” the Doctor shrugged. “Ah, who am I kidding, probably,” the Doctor admitted. “Still, if there are aliens at work in Pompeii, it's a good thing we stayed,” he muttered so only she could hear.

“Agreed,” Ariel nodded.

The Doctor sighed. “Now, Donna, if you could-,” the Doctor began and spun around to face her, only to find she was nowhere to be found. “Donna? Donna? Donna!” The Doctor cried.

“Donna!” Ariel called, running down to the corridor and peering around to see if she could spot her.

“She was taken,” Evalina breathed.

“What?” Ariel frowned. “Taken where? By who?”

Evalina looked at the Doctor and Ariel with wide eyes. “She was taken by the sisters.”

“Why? Why was she taken by the sisters?” The Doctor asked.

“It’s my fault,” Evalina mumbled. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning to dart off to her room before Ariel grabbed her arm.

“Wait,” Ariel said. “Can you tell us where they took her?” Ariel asked.

Evalina looked at the pair sadly, unsure of why they would even trust her after what she had done to their friend. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and nodded.

Meanwhile, in the sister’s temple, Donna was tied to an altar and a dark haired woman with painting across her face and red robes stood over her with a knife.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Donna sighed.

“The false prophet will surrender both her blood and her breath,” the dark-haired woman announced to the other sisters with similar paintings across their faces and robes.

“I'll surrender you in a minute. Don't you dare,” Donna warned.

“You will be silent,” the woman snapped.

“Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I've finished with you. Let me go!” Donna yelled, struggling against the ropes.

“This prattling voice will cease forever!” The woman cried. She raised her knife right when the Doctor and Ariel waltzed into the temple arm in arm, goofy grins painted across their faces as they watched the scene unfold.

“Oh, that’ll be the day,” the Doctor hummed.

The dark-haired woman spun around and glared at the pair. “No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sibyl.”

“Well, that’s alright,” Ariel smirked. “Just us girls.”

The Doctor chuckled and looked at the woman and Ariel. “Do you know, I met the Sibyl once?”

“Really?” Ariel smiled.

“Yeah, hell of a woman,” he grinned. “Blimey, she could dance the Tarantella. Nice teeth. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last. She said, I know. Well, she would,” he shrugged. “You alright there?”  He called to Donna.

“Oh, never better,” Donna sighed.

“I like the toga,” Ariel remarked with a small smile.

“Thank you,” Donna nodded. “And the ropes?” She prompted.

“Yeah, not so much,”  Ariel sighed.

The Doctor raised his sonic and pointed it at Donna’s ropes, freeing her automatically. The woman standing beside Donna on the altar jumped back in surprise.

“What magic is this?” The woman breathed.

“Let me tell you about the Sibyl, the founder of this religion,” the Doctor said, ignoring her question while Ariel bolted over to Donna and helped her off the altar. “She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, hey? On the blade of a knife?” He wondered.

“Yes, a knife that now welcomes the pair of you,” the woman said, glaring at the trio.

“Show them to me,” a strange gravelly voice said from behind a red curtain that was just behind the altar.

“High Priestess, the strangers would defile us,” the woman attempted to reason.

“Let me see. This man is different. He carries starlight in his wake,” the High Priestess announced.

“Oh, very perceptive,” the Doctor hummed. “Where do these words of wisdom come from?” He wondered.

“The gods whisper to me,” the High Priestess said.

“Oh, I think they’ve done just a tad more than that,” Ariel mumbled.

“Might I beg audience?” The Doctor requested. “Look upon the High Priestess?”

Two of the sisters stepped forward and drew back the curtains to reveal a woman in red robes like the other sisters, but entirely made out of stone, somehow still breathing and living regardless.

“Oh, my God,” Donna mumbled.

“How is that even possible?” Ariel frowned.

“The gods have made it so,” the High Priestess said.

“What’s happened to you?” Donna asked.

“The heavens have blessed me,” the High Priestess hummed.

The Doctor stepped forward, narrowing his eyes at the woman. “If I might?” He prompted, gesturing to her arm of stone.

The woman hesitated but nodded and held up her arm of stone.

The Doctor cupped it delicately, investigating it further. “Does it hurt?” He wondered.

“It is necessary,” the High Priestess said.

“That doesn’t answer the question,” Ariel pointed out, walking to the Doctor’s side so she too could peer at the stone.

“Exactly,” the Doctor nodded. “Who told you all of this was necessary?” He asked.

“The voices,” the High Priestess replied.

“The voices of the gods?” Ariel guessed with a raised eyebrow.

“The voices of those who foretell what is to come,” the High Priestess said.

“Okay, so definitely not the gods,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor nodded firmly in agreement.

“Is that what's going to happen to Evelina? Is this what's going to happen to all of you?” Donna asked loudly, spinning around to the sisters.

The dark-haired woman stepped forward and pushed up the robes on her forearm so Donna could see. “The blessings are manifold,” she told her, holding out her forearm made of stone.

Donna’s eyes widened and she placed her hand gently on the cool stone.

“They’re stone,”  Donna gasped.

“Yep, all of the soothsayers are made of stone,” Ariel muttered.

“Exactly. The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?” The Doctor wondered.

“This word, this image in your mind. This volcano. What is that?” The High Priestess asked.

“More to the point, why don’t you know about it?” The Doctor retorted.

“Yeah, why can’t you see it coming?” Ariel wondered.

“Who are you?” The Doctor asked.

“High Priestess of the Sibylline,” the High Priestess responded easily.

“No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust, in the lungs, taking over the flesh and turning it into, what?” The Doctor wondered, raking his fingers through his beautifully messy hair.

“Your knowledge is impossible,” the High Priestess hummed.

“Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not,” the Doctor muttered. "I demand you tell me who you are,” he ordered.

When the High Priestess spoke again, she spoke with two voices. One was the strained, gravelly voice she had been addressing them with before and the other was deep and low, a threat present in its very tone.

“We are awakening!” The two voices cried.

“The voice of the gods!”  The dark haired woman exclaimed. All the other sisters fell to their knees and began rocking back and forth, repeating the same mantra in unison.

“Words of wisdom, words of power,” the girls all said. “Words of wisdom, words of power,” they continued as the Doctor turned back to the High Priestess and whatever was inside of her, frustration worn across his battle-aged face.

“Name yourself. Planet of origin. Galactic coordinates. Species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation!” The Doctor insisted, his tone screaming that he wasn’t willing to wait much longer to learn what the hell was in front of him.

“We are rising,” the voices announced.

“Tell me your name!” The Doctor snapped.

“Pyrovile!” The voices roared.

After the species announced its name, the sisters adopted a new chant after it, seeming blissfully unaware that the species had just outright told them that they weren’t the gods.

“Pyrovile, pyrovile, pyrovile,” the sisters chanted.

“What’s a Pyrovile?” Donna asked.

“Well, that's a Pyrovile, growing inside her. She's a halfway stage,” the Doctor muttered, eyes fixated on the stone woman.

“What, so she’s like a child Pyrovile?” Ariel frowned.

“If you like,” the Doctor nodded.

“What, and that turns into?” Donna prompted.

“That thing in the villa,” the Doctor said. “That was an adult Pyrovile.”

“And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor,” the voices hissed.

The Doctor reached into his suit and, tossing a wink at Ariel, he pulled out a small yellow plastic water pistol.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel snorted.

“I warn you, I’m armed,” the Doctor threatened and Ariel covered her mouth to conceal laughter at his weapon.

“Donna, Ariel, get that grill open,” the Doctor instructed.

“What for?” Donna wondered.

“Come on,” Ariel sighed, grabbing her hand and running over to the grill over the hypocaust. “Let’s just do it.”

Meanwhile, the Doctor continued to distract the Pyrovile and the sisters with his water gun.

“What are the Pyrovile doing here?” The Doctor asked.

“We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast, we were rendered into dust,” the Pyrovile said.

“Right, creatures of stone shattered on impact,” the Doctor nodded. “When was that, seventeen years ago?” He guessed.

“We have slept beneath for thousands of years,” the Pyrovile said.

“Okay, so seventeen years ago woke you up, and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourselves. But why the psychic powers?” The Doctor wondered.

“We opened their minds and found such gifts,” the Pyrovile said poetically.

“Okay, that's fine. So you force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that, I get that, yeah,” the Doctor nodded. “But seeing the future? That is way beyond psychic. You can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?” He asked.

“Got it!” Donna called.

“Good, now get down,” the Doctor said.

“What, down there?” Donna frowned.

“Yes, down there,” the Doctor nodded, sighing softly in irritation.

“Well, down we go!” Ariel cried, bracing herself before jumping inside the hypocaust.

Donna, on the other hand, stayed at the top, staring down at the hypocaust with wide eyes.

“Donna, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a warm room,” she shrugged. “It’s like a sauna.”

“Yeah, except it’s called a grill,” Donna reminded her. “There’s no way you’re getting me down there, missy.”

“Donna,” Ariel moaned.

“Why can't this lot predict a volcano?” The Doctor wondered. “Why is it being hidden?”

“Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless,” the dark-haired woman announced proudly.

“Yeah, but it’s got to sting,” the Doctor shrugged. He squirted a couple shots of the water at the Pyrovile and she shrieked, loud and high pitched. Smoke rolled off her stone skin as the sisters darted toward the High Priestess, desperate to help her.

The Doctor bolted to the hypocaust. “Get down there!” He cried to Donna who was still sitting by the edge of it. He grabbed her and the pair jumped down into the hypocaust.

“About bloody time,” Ariel hummed with her arms crossed.

The Doctor chuckled and kissed her forehead.

“You fought her off with a water pistol!” Donna exclaimed. “I bloody love you!”

The Doctor sighed and turned to a small pathway with rocky walls. “This way,” he said pointing down the path.

“Where are we going now?” Donna wondered.

“Into the volcano,” the Doctor said simply.

“No way,” Donna gasped.

“Yes way,” the Doctor nodded, grabbing Ariel’s hand and trudging forward. “Appian way,” he smirked.

“Huh, so I will be dying by fire,” Ariel shrugged.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” the Doctor scolded.

“I’m being dramatic?!” Ariel exclaimed. “You’re the one taking us into a volcano!”

“Only because the Pyrovile want to set it off,” the Doctor insisted. “Besides, we’ll be safe. I’m not going to walk you straight into a volcano when it’s exploding.”

“I guess you have a point,” Ariel mumbled. After all the times the Doctor saved her life, he wouldn't just walk her headfirst into an exploding volcano. 

“But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it alright for you to stop it?” Donna frowned.

“Still part of history,” the Doctor sighed, clearly annoyed that the conversation of saving the town hasn’t let up.

“But we’re history to you,” Donna said, gesturing to herself and Ariel. “You saved us both in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different?” She wondered.

“Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed,” the Doctor said.

“How do you know which is which?” Donna wondered.

The Doctor took a deep breath and swung around to face her. He stopped walking as he glared down at her. “Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left.”

As he spoke, Ariel’s heart went out to him. She couldn’t imagine the burden of having to see that much pain and tragedy. It was a miracle that it didn’t drive him mad, but instead, each day he stood tall and tried to save as much as he could. If it was possible, Ariel somehow managed to fall for him even more.

“How many people died?” Donna asked simply.

“Donna!” Ariel snapped with wide eyes. After all of that, how could Donna even begin to turn it back to Pompeii? To continue to make the Doctor feel guilty for something he couldn’t stop.

“Stop it,” the Doctor warned.

“Doctor, how many people?” Donna repeated.

The Doctor sighed and looked down, turning away and continuing to march forward once more. “Twenty thousand,” he mumbled.

“Is that what you can see, Doctor? All twenty thousand? And you think that's alright, do you?” Donna prompted. “Come on, Ariel. Tell him how terrible this is,” Donna insisted. She had seen the way the pair bonded and she knew if anybody could stop him from flying away and leaving this city to burn, it was her.

Ariel spun around with a clenched jaw and wild eyes. “What I think is wrong is the fact that you’re bullying a nine hundred year old man into trying to change something that’s been written in history ever since I was ten-years-old. Simultaneously, changing the whole of history and the millions of lives that were saved because after this town burned people actually gave a damn about volcanoes and learnt about the damage they can do,” Ariel snapped. "Donna, do us a favor and leave this alone," she requested, shooting Donna one last venomous look before hopping up to the Doctor.

The Doctor never said it, but his hearts leapt at the way Ariel defended him. He hated snapping on his companions, yelling at them or even worse scaring them so he often took their anger at the injustice in the universe and carried it on his shoulders. He was the one who showed it to them after all, but the fact that Ariel defended him made him feel like a weight, even if it was just a small one, had been lifted off his shoulders. Instead of telling her all of this verbally, he just gave Ariel’s hand a firm squeeze hoping she understood the message.

She grinned up at him and squeezed back. A silent, ‘you’re welcome’.

Just then, there was a loud and mighty roar, like the Pyrovile screaming at them from just inches behind them.

“They know we’re here,” the Doctor muttered. “Come on,” the Doctor instructed the two women. He pushed Ariel ahead of him so the Pyrovile couldn’t see her before running after her with Donna by his side.

They arrived in a large open space, the center of the volcano, flooded with adult Pyroviles marching around, flames raging through their stone bodies. They hid behind the rocks so the Pyroviles wouldn’t see them.

“It’s the heart of Vesuvius,” the Doctor breathed. “We’re right inside the mountain.”

“There’s tons of them,” Donna muttered.

“Doctor,” Ariel mumbled, tapping his shoulder. “What’s that over there?” She asked, pointing across the cavern to a small room with red lights inside of it and some barely visible circuit boards.

“What’s that thing?” The Doctor said. He pulled out a small monocular device to look at the construct.

“What don’t you have in that suit?” Ariel wondered and the Doctor smiled.

“A buoy from the Titanic. They wouldn’t let me take one,” the Doctor replied.

“The fact that you tried to take one doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor chuckled but his smile quickly fell when he looked closer at what was in the construct.

“Oh, you better hurry up and think of something. Rocky fall's on its way,” Donna warned.

“That's how they arrived. Or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship? Gene bank?” The Doctor listed off guesses.

“Why would the prison ship be so small when there’s so many of them?” Ariel wondered.

“Fair point,” the Doctor nodded.

“But why do they need a volcano? Maybe it erupts, and they launch themselves back into space or something?” Donna guessed.

“Oh, it’s worse than that,” the Doctor sighed.

“How could it be worse?” Donna wondered. She looked up at the Pyrovile warily. “Doctor, it’s getting closer,” Donna mumbled.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the cavern Lucius marched up the rocks and stood above them, his stone arm still missing from when the Doctor ripped it off.

“Heathens defile us!” Lucius cried. “They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods.”

“Come on,” the Doctor mumbled. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and she grabbed Donna’s as they all darted ahead towards the strange construct.

“We can’t go in,” Donna reasoned.

“Course we can,” Ariel shrugged.

“Besides, we can’t go back,” the Doctor said.

“Crush them! Burn them!” Lucius roared.

A Pyrovile darted up in front of them and the Doctor pulled out his water pistol.

“Go!” He exclaimed, letting go of Ariel’s hand so she could run inside the pod with Donna.

“Come on!” Ariel exclaimed. She tightened her grip on Donna’s hand and the two raced inside while the Doctor backed away from the Pyrovile continuously shooting it with water.

“There is nowhere to run, Doctor, and daughters of London and Winchester,” Lucius announced loudly.

“Now then, Lucius. My lords Pyrovilian, don't get yourselves in a lather. In a lava? No? No. But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish. Once this new race of creatures is complete, then what?” The Doctor wondered.

“My masters will follow the example of Rome itself. An almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilisation,” Lucius explained.

“But if you've crashed, and you've got all this technology, why don't you just go home?” Donna asked.

“The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone,” Lucius said.

“What do you mean, gone?” The Doctor wondered.

“Yeah, where’s it gone?” Ariel asked.

“It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise,” Lucius said proudly.

“Yeah, I should warn you, it's seventy percent water out there,” the Doctor winced.

“Water can boil!” Lucius spat. “And everything will burn, Doctor.”

“Then the whole planet is at stake,” the Doctor concluded with a nod. “Thank you. That's all I needed to know. Ariel. Donna.” The Doctor gently moved the women back into the pod which contained the circuit boards.

He closed the door with his sonic screwdriver and turned back to them with a sigh.

“Right then,” the Doctor said.

“Could we be any more trapped?” Donna scoffed.

The temperature rose steadily in the pod but the Doctor hardly seemed to notice, jumping towards the circuit boards to investigate. Meanwhile, Donna was waving her hand in front of her face, desperate to grant herself some air.

“Little bit hot,” Donna murmured.

Ariel bounced up to the Doctor, running on adrenaline as she peered over his shoulder.

“See?” The Doctor prompted. “The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions.”

“But can't you change it with these controls?” Donna frowned.

“Of course I can,” the Doctor shrugged. “But don't you see?!” He exclaimed. “That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're going to use it to take over the world.”

“But you can change it back?” Donna clarified.

“I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But, that's the choice. It's Pompeii or the world,” the Doctor breathed.

“Oh, my God,” Donna mumbled.

“If Pompeii is destroyed then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen,” the Doctor said.

“No, it’s not,” Ariel shook her head.

“What?” The Doctor frowned.

“You’re not doing this alone. If we destroy Pompeii we do it together,” Ariel promised.

The Doctor sighed, smiling at her beautifully.

“But, the Pyrovile are made of rocks,” Donna reminded them. “Maybe, they can’t even be blown up.”

“Vesuvius explodes with the force of twenty four nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it. Certainly not us,” the Doctor said.

Donna and Ariel shared a look.

“Never mind us,” Donna shrugged.

“Yeah, we don’t matter,” Ariel nodded.

The Doctor smiled softly and pressed a kiss to Ariel’s forehead before placing his hands on the lever.

“Push this lever and it's over. Twenty thousand people,” the Doctor sighed.

Ariel and Donna immediately put their hands over his to push the lever alongside him. He looked at the pair of them, flashed a grateful smile that expressed more than any of the words he had no time to speak, and they all pushed the lever together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 7 April 2018


	9. A Trip Back Home

The escape pod rolled around on the mountainside, crashing into several more rocks before landing with a thud on the ground.

The trio shoved their way out of the pod, coughing against the smoke as they stared back at the pod in awe, surprised that they were even still alive.

“It was an escape pod,” the Doctor breathed.

“Doctor!” Ariel exclaimed, pointing at the avalanche of ash rolling down the volcano.

“Run!” The Doctor exclaimed. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and the trio bolted away from the volcano and towards the town.

All the citizens ran through the streets, crying and screaming, desperately running through the town to find some place to hide.

“Don't. Don't go to the beach. Don't go to the beach, go to the hills. Listen to me. Don't go to the beach, it's not safe. Listen to me,” Donna begged the people but nobody listened to her. They were all too scared to listen to her frantic cries.

The trio darted down some steps in the marketplace but as Donna was about to continue following Ariel and the Doctor she spotted a little boy no older than ten, crying at the very top of the steps.

“Come here,” Donna hummed, ready to save and comfort the boy when his mother grabbed him, snarling at Donna.

“Give him to me!” She snapped before running off with her son.

Donna stepped back, arms still open in shock of what had just happened.

“Donna!” Ariel called. “Come on!”

Donna looked at her with wide eyes but took a deep breath and ran towards the Doctor and Ariel.

They ran into Caecilius’s villa to find the entire family crowded together, clinging to each other desperately in their final moments.

“Gods save us, Doctor!” Caecilius cried.

The Doctor skidded to a stop and peered at the family with wide eyes, cursing himself for killing a family that had been so kind and good to him.

The Doctor shook his head, unable to look at them at them any longer. He dragged Ariel to the Tardis, unwilling to look back.

“Doctor,” Ariel sighed. She saw the way he looked at the family and she knew that, despite having Donna and Ariel push the lever with him, he still completely blamed himself for what happened.

The Doctor just shook his head and marched inside the Tardis, the door creaking as they opened and slammed it loudly behind them.

“Doctor, it wasn’t just you,” Ariel insisted. “All three of us pushed that lever.”

“If I hadn’t interfered, Pompeii would’ve never fell. This always happens. I interfere and people die,” the Doctor snapped as he started up the Tardis.

“You saved more people than the amount that would’ve died,” Ariel insisted. “Isn’t that worth something?”

“I used to think so, but in the end it just adds more people I’ve killed to the list,” the Doctor murmured.

“Doctor,” Ariel sighed.

Just then, the Tardis door creaked open and Donna slammed it loudly behind her, tears streaming down her face.

“You can’t just leave them!” Donna cried.

“Don't you think I've done enough?” The Doctor asked. “History's back in place and everyone dies,” he mumbled bitterly, slamming his hand down on the console.

“You've got to go back. Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back,” Donna demanded. “It's not fair.”

“No, it’s not,” the Doctor said.

Ariel looked down, closing her eyes and refusing to look at either of them. Her gut was twisting and it was like she felt herself being split in half between the pair of them. While she knew that the Doctor had done enough and was probably going to kick himself for months over what he had done, she also knew the the right thing to do would be to save four lives from the disaster Vesuvius was bringing.

“But your own planet,” Donna reasoned. “It burned.”

“Donna,” Ariel breathed, shaking her head softly. Right then was not the time to remind him about his own people dying.

“That's just it. Don't you see, Donna?” The Doctor snapped, slamming some buttons on the console. “Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them, then I would. But I can't. I can never go back. I can't. I just can't, I can't.”

“Doctor,” Ariel said tentatively, stepping towards him slowly. “We don’t have to save everyone, but we can save the family. We can bring them to Rome. We can save somebody,” Ariel told him.

The Doctor looked up at her with wide eyes.

“Just someone. Please. Not the whole town. Just save someone,” Donna begged, nodding along with Ariel.

The Doctor took a deep breath and flipped the coordinates, setting them back to Caecilius’s home in Pompeii.

When they landed, the Doctor marched past the women and swung the doors open, holding out his hand to Caecilius as Donna breathed a deep sigh of relief.

“Come with me,” the Doctor said, grabbing Caecilius’s hand and pulling him into the Tardis as the rest of his family followed.

~~~

The seven of them stood on a hillside just outside the Tardis, watching as Pompeii burned to ashes and the magma of Vesuvius swallowed the city whole. Each of the family’s bodies racked with sobs as Ariel squeezed the Doctor’s hand tight.

They all knew he had done the right thing, regardless of how much pain it had resulted in.

“It's never forgotten, Caecilius. Oh, time will pass, men'll move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found again. In thousands of years. And everyone will remember you,” the Doctor said and Ariel smiled softly up at the Doctor.

“What about you, Evalina?” Donna wondered, turning to the young woman who looked pale and weak at the sight of her home being destroyed. “Can you see anything?”

“The visions have gone,” Evalina breathed.

“The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time, just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy,” the Doctor explained. “It echoed back into the Pyrovilian alternative. But not any more. You're free.”

Evalina flashed a soft smile at the Doctor.

“But tell me. Who are you, Doctor? With your words, and your temple containing such size within?” Metella asked desperately.

The Doctor and Ariel exchanged a wary look, unsure if they should tell the family the name’s of those who saved them during such a pivotal point in history.

The Doctor sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “Oh, we were never here. Don’t tell anyone,” he said.

Caecilius stepped forward, his mouth agape at the disappearance of his home, being replaced by pure magma. “The great god Vulcan must be enraged. It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of volcano. All those people,” he sighed.

The family needed a moment to mourn, so the trio slipped back into the Tardis silently.

Ariel closed the door behind them and walked up to the Doctor with a small smile. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug while Donna grinned up at the pair.

“Thank you,” Donna nodded.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed. Ariel pulled away and he wrapped his arm around her as they both looked at Donna. “You were right. Both of you,” he said looking at Ariel and Donna. “Sometimes I need people. Welcome aboard.”

Ariel grinned. “Welcome aboard the Tardis.”

“Yeah,” Donna nodded with a soft smile.

~~~

The next morning, Ariel woke up early and put on her slippers. She shuffled through the hallways aimlessly before eventually arriving in the console room.

It was odd not seeing the Doctor inside, like being inside your friend’s house without them being there.

She leant against the railing surrounding the room and sighed, listening to the soft hum of the Tardis as she thought.

Lucius’s words continued to bounce around in her mind long after they left Pompeii and dropped Caecilius’s family off in Rome.

_The same way I know of the mother you abandoned and the father you left to die._

_Hear this daughter of Winchester, you will tell him all. You will tell him on his dying day._

She couldn’t get it out of her head and she wished more than anything that she could just wipe the memory away.

After he said that, she figured she should probably visit her Mum. If anything, she could at least wipe away the guilt of leaving her Mum alone with no calls. It might make her feel better about travelling with the Doctor across all of time and space, seeing all the things he showed her both good and bad.

“Why, hello,” the Doctor grinned, walking into the console room and spotting her by the barrier.

Ariel turned to him and sighed softly. “Hi,” she mumbled.

The Doctor frowned and immediately marched up to her. “What’s wrong?” He asked, concern twisting in the pit of his stomach.

“I think I need to go home,” Ariel muttered.

The Doctor’s face fell and his hearts twisted. He took a step back and let out a small sigh. “Wow, erm, alright. I suppose I didn’t expect this so soon, but I understand,” he nodded. “I mean, if that’s what you want, I won’t stop you,” he shrugged. “There were so many places I wanted to take you. A planet filled with books on every corner quite literally titled The Library, the Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade, to meet your favorite painter during the most astonishing artistic outpouring in history,” the Doctor rambled. “Thank you so much Ariel Parsons. Truly, thank you. You’ve saved my life in so many ways and have made me feel genuinely fantastic for the first time in a while, and you-you’re just popping by for a visit aren’t you?”

“Did you really mean all that?” Ariel smiled. “Because quite frankly I think that is one of the sweetest things anybody has said to me, ever,” Ariel said.

“Every word,” the Doctor grinned and Ariel could feel her heart melting. “So, you just wanna check up on your Mum?” The Doctor guessed.

“Yeah,” Ariel sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. “After what Lucius said,” she shook her head. “I know I can’t fix stuff that happened to me in the past, but this, this I can fix.”

The Doctor nodded. “Do you want to go alone?”

“Yeah,” Ariel sighed. “My Mum’s not the worst person in the world but she’s certainly no saint. She’s a bit much in a first meeting,” Ariel shrugged.

“My Mum was the same way,” the Doctor chuckled. “I understand.”

“I’m just gonna tell her I’m staying with a new mate or something,” Ariel shrugged. “Knowing her, she’ll just ramble on about finally getting a break and how I’m _finally_ a normal person.”

“No offense, but she doesn’t sound like a very pleasant woman,” the Doctor remarked.

“She isn’t, but she’s my Mum and I have to see her,” Ariel nodded.

“Well, I can drop you off at the night you left, if you want. You can stop by and visit,” the Doctor said.

“Seriously? You can drop me off the same day I left?” Ariel asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed. “You left early in the afternoon so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I dunno. I guess I just figured that I’d have to come back today. Well, today there anyway. Meaning, I’d have to see her after three weeks of being gone.”

The Doctor chuckled. “No, did you miss the part about the time machine?”

“Oh, alright,” Ariel moaned as the Doctor laughed. “I don’t know the rules or whatever. I’m assuming you can’t just do anything, so I guessed.”

“We can’t travel back inside your own personal timeline, so we wouldn’t be able to go there while you were still there, but since you were off traveling with me then it’s alright,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Well, you learn something new everyday,” Ariel said and the Doctor smiled and nodded. “So, are you gonna tell me what happened in Pompeii with your people? Or are we both gonna wait on the secrets thing?” Ariel smirked.

The Doctor sighed. “There was a war. A war for all of creation called the Time War. My people, the Time Lords. We fought against the Daleks. I fought on the front lines and the war lasted ages, but as it grew more and more hopeless, my people started running out of weapons to toss at the Daleks. Meanwhile, the Daleks kept on throwing more and more of themselves at us. I was different back then. I wasn’t the Doctor when I wore that face.”

“Sorry, what do you mean ‘wore that face’?” Ariel wondered.

“Oh, right, we Time Lords when we’re dying our bodies can sort of regenerate and make a new one. A whole new body. New face. New everything.”

“That sounds horrible,” Ariel frowned and the Doctor’s eyes widened.

“Sorry, what did you just say?” The Doctor asked.

“I was just thinking. I can’t imagine having to change everything about myself when I suffer something fatal. Like sure, it’s a nice way to cheat death, but it can’t be pleasant having to change everything about yourself. It sounds really lonely.”

“That’s-that’s exactly what it is,” the Doctor mumbled. “I’m sorry, I’ve just never met anybody who saw it that way.”

Ariel sighed. “I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

“It’s alright,” the Doctor nodded with a small sigh. “I have a certain amount of faces and technically speaking I’m on number eleven.”

“How many do you get?” Ariel wondered.

“Thirteen,” the Doctor said.

“You’ve lived lives through ten different faces?” Ariel asked with wide eyes. “That sounds maddening.”

“Yeah, number nine, I don’t-,” he frowned. “I don’t really think of him as the Doctor because of what he did. What I did,” the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel narrowed her eyes at him. His face appeared to be weighed down with a similar burden to the ones she carried in her own deepest, darkest secrets. “Doctor,” Ariel breathed. “What happened?”

“During the Time War, the Time Lords used every weapon in their arsenal against the Daleks except one, and for good reason. The Moment was a weapon of immense power, some say it developed a mind of its own. A living conscious that could judge you openly for using it.”

“That’s incredible and sort of terrifying,” Ariel remarked and the Doctor nodded.

“He, I stole it. I wanted to put an end to the Time War, to escape the possibility of the Daleks leaving and taking control of the universe, so I used the Moment,” the Doctor muttered. “I killed the Daleks, the Time Lords,” the Doctor sighed. “Mass genocide.”

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed. She leant back and sucked in a sharp breath, her mind moving a million miles a minute. She was wrong, his burden was far heavier than anything she could've imagined. “So, wait,” she said holding up a hand. “So, the Daleks came back but your people didn’t? And the only reason you did that was to avoid the Daleks getting out? Oh, my God.”

“It’s like I said. Whenever I try to do the right thing, it just ends badly,” the Doctor mumbled bitterly.

“Oh, my Doctor,” Ariel sighed. She wrapped him in a tight hug. “You don’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this.”

She pulled away and met his brown eyes; hickory as rich as the earth’s soil, stained with the colour of hot chocolate on a cold, winter night that wraps around you like a blanket; engulfs you in its warmth and makes you feel at home.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as she pushed herself up, wrapping her arms around his neck and brushing her fingers through his lovely whiskey hair.

He was drunk with her, transfixed by her grey eyes like fog on a winding road, blurring his vision and muddling his sense of direction. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his chest.

He gazed down at her plump pink lips and didn’t even seem to notice that she was doing the same with his.

Just as he was about to lean down and claim her lips, an echoing voice made them jump apart within seconds.

“Y’know, I never thought I would get over Ancient Rome, but the thought that we could visit an alien planet?!” Donna exclaimed as she shuffled into the console room. “I mean, blimey, it’s keeping me up at night,” she laughed.

Ariel looked down at the ground with wide eyes, her cheeks blossoming into an adorable pink.

“Well, we’re actually making a quick stop at my Mum’s house,” Ariel said. “I just need to see her.”

“Yeah, alright,” Donna nodded. “But still,” she sighed. “An alien planet!” She exclaimed. “With real, live aliens!”

“Oi, what am I then?” The Doctor frowned.

“Oh, please, you’re just a skinny boy in a suit,” Donna sighed and Ariel giggled.

“Come on, Donna,” Ariel smiled. “I need to get changed. I don’t really need to see my Mum wearing my pyjamas.”

“If she’s anything like my Mum, she’d have a cow at the very thought of you approaching her with your hair all up in a mess,” Donna chuckled.

Ariel grinned and headed down the corridor with Donna, only stopping momentarily to cast a glance back at the Doctor with wide eyes. She wasn’t sure if what she thought was going to happen actually was, but she did know that the second she got a chance she had to talk to the Doctor. Alone.

She got changed into an ordinary old shirt and ripped jeans and the Doctor landed the Tardis near her house. She had given him the address and coordinates when they first started travelling together so he would have them no matter what whenever she wanted to go home.

Ariel walked out to the front door of the Tardis and took a deep breath.

“Good luck,” the Doctor said, smiling softly.

She flashed a grin at him and nodded before sighing deeply and opening the door.

She looked up at the large house they had been able to buy after her Mum got the job in journalism. She had hated the house, preferring their small flat in Winchester, but her Mum had simply told her to hush up.

The woman had always been one for the grandiose and extreme over dull and simple.

The house somehow looked different from when she had left. It was like a lifetime had passed her by and she was returning to an old building she was supposed to consider home after so much time. It didn’t feel like she was going home when she walked up to it.

Returning to it after a long trip didn’t bear the same feeling that people typically had when they came home after a long time away. She didn’t feel the relief at being able to sink into her own bed and relax, she didn’t feel the comfort of being around familiar settings.

Somehow, travelling in the Tardis had taken that away. She knew she was probably growing into a new home, and that was why she didn't feel at peace in the building where she had shed nothing but tears. She smiled softly at the thought. The Tardis was a place where she could fit in and belong, and she adored it. It was nice to feel at home somewhere.

Regardless, her mother resided in the home before her and that meant she had to pay a visit.

She wasn’t going to be the type of person that saw a chance for change in her life and just abandoned everything before her new life.

Ariel trudged up the pathway to her front door. The second she turned the key, loud dog barks echoed across the house and a golden retriever leaped up towards her, jumping up as she bent her knees and licking her palms gleefully.

“Oh bloody hell, Rufus! I swear you goddamn bastard I will sell you!” A thick London accent rolled through the house as loud footsteps slapped across the hardwood floors.

Ariel rolled her eyes and picked up the dog granting him the opportunity to lick her face proudly.

“Happy to see you too, Mum,” Ariel sighed.

The woman swung around the corner and stared at her daughter with a frown. “You’re back,” she observed. The woman had short brown hair mirroring that of her daughter’s, but rather than staring back at her with identical grey eyes, her eyes flashed bright blue.

Her hair was frazzled and she wore a knitted white jumper with snags ringing around the bottom and dark pyjama bottoms. She appeared to be a woman worn down and exhausted with what life had torn out of her each and every day and just desperate for whatever shimmer of a break from it she could latch onto.

She never smiled or seemed relieved at her daughter’s return, instead she just glared at the young girl, seeming almost angry at her presence.

“Why are you back?” Her mother moaned.

“Nice to see you too, Mum,” Ariel muttered.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re not dead on the side of some bloody curb, but I was prayin’ that you wouldn’t be home for the weekend,” Carol Parsons snapped at her daughter.

“Well, I actually came back to tell you about that,” Ariel said.

“What? Your mobile stopped working? You really had to tell me in person?” Carol sighed.

“Wow,” Ariel mumbled, rolling her eyes at her mother's blatant absence of affection for her. “I just wanted to say that I met this bloke, and-,” Ariel began.

“You met a bloke?!” Carol exclaimed. “Oh, thank the Lord. I was just telling my mate Sheryl in the office. I said, if she doesn’t get a bloke or some bird soon I’m gonna have to peg her as one of those kids that just never shags,” Carol sighed.

“Glad you find it okay to talk about my sex life in front of people I dunno, Mum,” Ariel sighed.

“Well, somebody’s gotta hear about it!” Carol cried. “Anyhow, will you be staying with him all weekend?”

“Why? Are you planning to lock me out?” Ariel chuckled, but when she looked up and met her mother’s eyes, she grew genuinely concerned that the older woman might actually think that was a good idea. “Please, don’t lock me out, all my stuff is here.”

“Ah, no," she dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. "Though that is a good way of keeping you the hell out, I may just invite some mates over,” Carol shrugged.

“Okay, well if you’re gonna have a bloke over, please don’t let him into my room. The last guy left it smelling like drugs for a month and somehow managed to get blood on my sheets that I couldn’t wash out.”

“Not my problem, love,” Carol sighed. “They’re grown men. I’m not the bloody boss of them.”

“Oh, whatever, it’s not like I’m gonna be here anyway.”

“Exactly,” Carol grinned. “Nothing to concern yourself with,” she said. “So, tell me about this bloke,” she said, waving her daughter over to the sofa.

“I-We-I-His name is John,” Ariel said awkwardly, not sitting on the sofa with her Mum, and instead gripping the edges of her shirt tightly.

“John,” Carol nodded. “Good name. Nice bloke?”

“The sweetest,” Ariel grinned. “I really really like him Mum.”

Carol smiled. “Well, I’m happy for you, sweetie. You deserve a good man after that Asher bloke. I honestly don’t understand what you saw in him. He treated you like rubbish. Actually, he treated you worse than rubbish and I-.”

“Mum, can we-can we not talk about him,” Ariel sighed, clenching her fists.

Carol frowned. The woman had a lot of faults, she treated her daughter more like a roommate in uni rather than a daughter she should guide and raise, but there were moments. Rare fleeting times where Carol nurtured and loved her daughter like a proper mother. As Carol stood up and walked to the young girl, brushing the brown hair out of her eyes, she grew into one of those moments.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong? What happened?” Carol breathed.

“I met this man, Mum,” Ariel said, her eyes growing watery as she met her mother’s eyes. “He knew about Dad. He knew about my past and he said that one day I’m gonna tell John all of it and I’m so scared. I don’t want him to see me like that Mum. I don’t.”

“Oh, my love,” Carol sighed, pulling her daughter into a tight hug as tears streamed silently down Ariel’s face. “You won’t tell him. I promise you. You won’t tell him.” She pulled away and used her thumb to wipe away a few of Ariel’s stray tears. “And even if you do, if he cares about you and truly deserves you, he won’t care as much as you think he will.”

“How do you know?” Ariel sobbed.

“Because I’m your mother, and I know that any man worthy of you will look past what happened and care for you regardless,” Carol smiled softly.

Ariel sniffled. “Thanks Mum.”

“Anytime, dear. Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITED: 8 April 2018


	10. The Ood Sphere

Ariel reclined in the jumpseat as Donna bounced around the Tardis gleefully. The Doctor watched her with a large grin on his face. He loved seeing the elation of the people he brought on board when they got to see the universe.

Ariel smiled softly at Donna, pulling the sleeves of her jumper over her hands as she watched her. Donna was much more confident than she had ever been and Ariel admired her greatly for it. In fact, she even looked up to her. 

Donna was much more free and willing to speak her mind and though Ariel liked to believe she was on the path to that, she knew she still had a long way to go. 

Then Ariel glanced up at the Doctor. She still hadn’t gotten a moment alone with him since she talked to her mother. It was exhausting. 

She could see him meeting her with anxious glances every few minutes and she had to admit she felt the same of him. She just wanted the opportunity to talk to him for a minute because if he was planning on doing what she thought before, she needed to talk to him and make sure he wasn’t just leading her on.

She didn’t need to fall in love with another man who would just break her heart in the end. 

Ariel knew he’d probably been with many different people through his nine hundred years of life, but she didn’t want to be rejected like poor Martha or abandoned because he let his fear of what could happen to her control him. She did have a crush on him and she would be delighted if things could actually develop, but she didn’t want to be left out in the cold if they did.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was agonizing over the same superstitions Ariel was worried about. 

He knew all too well what happened when he started to care about something too deeply. Though Ariel was beautiful, smart, kind and funny, the Doctor was terrified of what might happen if he actually allowed anything to develop between them.

The universe didn’t exactly enjoy giving him something wonderful and allowing him to hold onto it. 

He had gotten carried away the night before, allowing himself to move too far and possibly lead her on, thus creating the concern of her possibly leaving if he didn’t act on his actions or talk to her soon. He sighed softly and pulled one of the levers, shielding her face from him behind the console. He couldn’t seem to stop getting himself into awful situations with the women he brought on board. 

Maybe, it was the universe’s way of torturing him for all the wrong he had done. 

He sucked in a sharp breath and with a thud, landed the Tardis, turning to the two women and crossing his arms. He feigned a smile so they wouldn’t grow concerned at his lack of excitement at the very start of a new journey.

He had far too much darting around his mind to allow the curiosity and wonder to engulf it.

“Set the controls to random. Mystery tour. Outside that door could be any planet, anywhere, anywhen in the whole wide universe,” the Doctor sighed. “Are you alright?” He frowned at Donna who was frozen, staring at the door with wide eyes, flabbergasted.

“Terrified,” Donna breathed. “I mean, history's one thing but an alien planet?!” She exclaimed. 

“I could always take you home,” the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly, a small smirk on his face as he knew that would be the last thing the ginger woman wanted.

“Yeah, don’t laugh at me,” Donna grumbled.

Ariel grinned and tapped her friend’s shoulder. “Look, Donna, it’s totally natural what you’re feeling, and trust me when I say it never goes away,” Ariel said, smiling softly up at the Doctor who’s stomach did a flip at the sight. “It’s wonderful and fascinating and endlessly beautiful. It makes your mind implode every single time,” she giggled.

The Doctor nodded. “I know what it's like. Everything you're feeling right now. The fear, the joy, the wonder? I get that.”

“Seriously?” Donna breathed with doe-like eyes. “After all this time?”

“Who wouldn’t?” Ariel grinned.

“Yeah,” the Doctor chuckled, nodding along with her. “Why do you think I keep going?” He asked.

“Oh. Alright then, the three of us together,” Donna smiled. “This is barmy. I was born in Chiswick. I've only ever had package holidays. Now I'm here. This is so. I mean it's. I don't know, it's all sort of. I don't even know what the word is.”

Ariel giggled, a musically wonderful sound as the trio stepped outside the Tardis doors to a snowy planet with architecture far off in the distance, covered in white by the winter wonderland.

“Oh, I’ve got the word,” Donna nodded. “Freezing!” She snapped.

Ariel nodded in agreement, pulling the sleeves of her jumper over her hands. The thin fabric of the jumper wasn’t much against the falling snow.

“Snow!” The Doctor exclaimed. Ariel grinned at his child-like excitement. She loved how much he acted like a little kid. It put her at ease in all the foreign places he took her too and made her feel comfortable simply laughing and taking in the scenery. “Oh, real snow,” the Doctor sighed, holding out his hand so a bit of snow could land in his palm. “Proper snow at last. That's more like it. Lovely. What do you think?”

“Bit cold,” Donna murmured, shivering as she hugged her arms around herself.

Ariel exhaled and could see the fog of her breath swirl around before her. “A bit?” Ariel scoffed.

“Oh, look at that view,” the Doctor breathed, ignoring their complaints of the cold weather.

“Yep,” Donna nodded. “Beautiful, cold view.”

“Millions of planets, millions of galaxies, and we're on this one,” the Doctor beamed.

Donna sighed, clearly frustrated that he was freezing to death and the Doctor was just taking in the view around him.

She tapped Ariel’s shoulder and gestured to the Tardis. A silent question of whether or not the young woman wanted to head back inside and grab some more suitable attire.

Ariel shook her head and Donna frowned, raising an eyebrow at the girl. It was freezing and the brunette didn’t seem any more comfortable under a thin jumper.

Ariel shook her head once again, nodding to the still rambling Doctor. Though she was freezing, she didn’t want to leave him out there on his own, ecstatically talking to nobody. 

That was just plain rude.

Donna shrugged and the Tardis door creaked loudly as she headed back inside. However, the Doctor didn’t seem to notice and continued gazing up at the view, in awe of the planet the Tardis had brought them to.

“Molto bene, says Donna, born in Chiswick. Bellissimo, says Ariel, born in Winchester. All you've got is a life of work and sleep, and telly and rent and tax and takeaway dinners, all birthdays and Christmases and two weeks holiday a year, and then you end up here. Ariel Parsons and Donna Noble, citizens of the Earth, standing on a different planet. How about that Ariel?” The Doctor grinned, spinning around to Ariel, who’s teeth were chattering as she forced a smile up at him.

“Fantastique,” Ariel breathed.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he immediately started peeling off his long coat. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I didn’t notice.” He placed his coat on her and she sighed at the warmth shielding her from the snowy atmosphere.

“It’s alright,” she muttered. 

Just then, the door creaked and Donna stepped out in a heavy winter coat with her hood up. She flashed a smile at the pair, doing a quick double take at Ariel wearing the Doctor’s coat, but chose not to say anything about the matter.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the Doctor. “Sorry, you were saying?” She prompted with a grin.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and turned back towards the architecture in the distance. “Better?” He presumed.

“Lovely, thanks,” Donna smiled making Ariel giggle softly.

“Comfy?” The Doctor guessed.

“Yep,” Donna nodded firmly.

“Can you hear anything inside that?” The Doctor frowned.

Donna raised an eyebrow and cupped her hand around her ear. “Pardon?” She prompted.

Ariel snorted and stepped up to the Doctor’s side. “I’m guessing that would be a strong no.”

“Oh, I’m just joshing you,” Donna sighed, waddling up towards them. The coat and boots she had slipped on were much too large for normal walking.

It was the typical coat that helped you stay warm, but made you look like a penguin in the winter.

“Alright,” the Doctor sighed. “I was saying, citizens of the Earth-,” the Doctor began.

“You’re not gonna give that whole speech again are you?” Ariel frowned.

“Well, I-,” the Doctor began.

“I’m just saying, I mean it was lovely but it was also the sort of speech I only need to hear once in the middle of the snow when there are buildings down there just begging to be looked at up close,” Ariel said, nodding to the buildings in the distance.

The Doctor smirked. “Fair point,” he conceded.

However, before they could even move, a large red space rocket soared across the sky, gliding slowly above them and heading in the direction they were planning to go.

“Rocket,” Donna gasped. “Blimey, a real proper rocket. Now that's what I call a spaceship. You've got a box, he's got a Ferrari. Come on Ariel, let’s go see where he's going,” Donna said, marching through the snow to follow the rocket.

The Doctor just stood in the same spot looking dumbfoundedly at the retreating form of Donna Noble and the rocket.

Ariel giggled and stepped forward, turning in front of the Doctor and smiling sweetly. “For the record, I think the box is a lot cooler,” she said.

“Ariel!” Donna cried.

Ariel snorted and rolled her eyes. “I’m coming!” She called, kicking her way through the snow to get to Donna. 

The Doctor smiled softly letting out a soft sigh before trudging towards the woman.

He caught up to them as they started to reach a small rock bridge and to silently announce his presence, he gently pushed his coat further onto Ariel’s shoulder. 

She turned with a frown which quickly blossomed into a grin when she saw him standing behind her.

He wanted nothing more then to wrap his arms around her, keeping her warm himself and comforting her all the same.

All it took was an image of Rose crying in the parallel world she had abandoned him in to stop him in his tracks. He took a deep breath and stared after Ariel. He couldn’t put another woman through that. Not again.

As the women continued to walk forward, engaging in delightful conversations of home and their favorite television shows and movies, the Doctor could’ve sworn he heard a distant delicate song being played.

He tried to listen closer and see if he could make it out, but it was too far away to tell. He darted up to the woman and shushed them in the midst of their conversation.

“Hold on, can you hear that?” The Doctor asked. “Donna, take your hood down.”

Donna did as he instructed and they all froze as they tried to listen, but the two women heard nothing. “What?” She frowned.

“I can’t hear anything, Doctor,” Ariel sighed.

“That noise is like a song,” the Doctor murmured. “Over there,” he pointed across the snow and a bit away from the buildings, but not exactly a long walk.

The Doctor automatically began marching toward it and Donna watched him like he was mad.

“He can go on whatever goose chase he bloody wants, I’m seeing a real life alien city!” Donna exclaimed, starting to walk towards the city before Ariel grabbed her hood and pulled her back. “Oi, what the hell are you doing?!”

“I think we should follow him,” Ariel breathed.

“If you think I’m gonna follow the spaceman into the middle of the snow for nothing just because you’ve got a crush you are wrong, missy,” Donna hummed.

“No, it’s not that. I just think we should see if something is there. I mean, the Doctor is an alien, maybe he can hear and see stuff we can’t,” Ariel shrugged. 

“Alright,” Donna sighed. “But if I don’t get to see the city because of this, I’m pinning it on you,” she warned. 

Ariel chuckled. “Right then, come on.”

They followed the Doctor through the snow and found him kneeling before a fallen body, partly covered by the snow, telling the trio that it had just been left there to die.

As Ariel got a closer look she saw that while the creature wasn’t humanoid, it was still desperate for breath and certainly didn’t deserve to die alone.

She knelt down beside the body and held out her hand. “Hello,” she said softly. “I’m Ariel,” she muttered and the Doctor smiled sweetly at her.

“What is it?” Donna breathed, her expression mirroring a mixture of horror and despair at the sight of a living being left out to die.

“An Ood,” the Doctor said. “He called an Ood.”

The Ood took Ariel’s hand, but he had clearly been weakened from his wounds, a small circle of deep red blood pouring from his stomach. He was unable to squeeze and held her hand so gently, Ariel was worried she may start crying right in front of him. 

“But it’s face,” Donna gasped.

Ariel didn’t listen to Donna as she learnt to deal with an alien that didn’t look human. Ariel understood where the ginger was coming from. It’s hard to see a living breathing creature that you don’t yet know how to comprehend, especially when the Doctor is the first alien you’ve met and he looks human. While Ariel had been much more accepting and adapted to the new faces she saw, she knew it would be more difficult for some people.

Whenever Ariel saw an alien face, she always thought of her favorite Disney movie  _ Beauty and the Beast _ and knew that it wasn’t how the other person looked that mattered, it was how they treated you and when that Ood delicately grasped her hand, she knew he was a good person, and that was all that mattered. 

“Donna, don't. Not now. It's a he, not an it,” the Doctor snapped.

“Sorry,” Donna mumbled.

The Doctor pulled a stethoscope out of his suit and put it in his ears. “I don't know where the heart is. I don't know if he's got a heart. Talk to him, both of you, talk to him, keep him going,” the Doctor instructed.

“Hey, can you help us out a bit?” Ariel requested gently, careful not to raise her tone above a soft whisper. If it had been her laying in the snow bleeding out, she would take joy in someone being soft and sweet to her, not talking harshly and reminding her each second that she was dying. “Can you guide my hand to your heart? Or just any major organ,” she shrugged, smiling softly at the Ood.

The Ood nodded roughly, struggling with the action in the snow and slowly guided Ariel’s hand to his heart.

Ariel looked up at the Doctor and gave him a short nod and he flashed a grateful smile at her before pressing his stethoscope to the Ood’s heart.

Donna knelt down by Ariel’s side, looking down sadly at the Ood.

“It's all right, we've got you. Er, what's your name?” Donna asked, her tone mirroring Ariel’s as she spoke.

The Ood used his free hand to lift up a small globe which lit up as he spoke to them. “Designated Ood Delta 50,” he said. The globe dimmed once again as he placed it back on his chest and put his hand down.

Donna looked at the Ood, Ariel and the Doctor awkwardly before picking up the globe and trying to speak into it.

“My name’s Donna,” Donna said and Ariel just lowered her hand.

“No, no,” Ariel shook her head. “You don’t need to do that. He can understand you without it,” Ariel assured it and when Donna looked up at the Doctor for confirmation, he nodded. 

“Sorry,” Donna sighed. Ariel just shook her head, seeing the woman was clearly overwhelmed with the fact that she had to talk down a dying alien. Ariel wrapped her other arm around Donna, rubbing her back to calm her down. “Oh, God. This is the Doctor. Just what you need, a doctor. Couldn't be better, hey?” Donna smirked.

The Doctor took a deep breath, putting his stethoscope away after he finished listening to the Ood’s heartbeats and investigating the wound. “You’ve been shot,” the Doctor announced.

“The circle,” Delta 50 gasped and Donna just placed her hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him back down.

“No, don’t try to talk,” Donna murmured.

Ariel smiled at Donna. She was getting a bit more comfortable with caring for the dying Ood.

“The circle must be broken,” Delta 50 muttered.

“Delta 50, don’t speak,” Ariel reprimanded.

“Circle?” The Doctor frowned. “What do you mean? Delta 50, what circle?”

“Doctor,” Ariel warned, clenching her jaw at the man.

The Doctor ignored her and continued interrogating the dying Ood. “Delta 50? What circle?”

“Doctor!” Ariel snapped.

All of a sudden, the Ood sat up with an animal like roar, its eyes flashing blood red. The trio jumped back in shock, staring at the Ood with wide eyes only to watch him loudly exhale and collapse into the snow dead.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed. She fell to her knees and crawled back to the Ood.

“Careful,” Donna mumbled.

“It’s alright,” Ariel assured her forlornly. “He’s dead,” she said before placing her shaking fingertips on his eyelids and closing his eyes for good. She stood up and backed away, sniffling as the Doctor wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“There was nothing we could do,” he reminded her. “He’d been here for a while and that wound wasn’t going to get any better.”

“I know,” Ariel nodded. “I just wish there was something we could’ve done,” she muttered.

“What do we do, do we bury him?” Donna wondered.

“The snow’ll take care of that,” the Doctor sighed.

“Who was he?” Donna asked. “What’s an Ood?”

“They're servants of humans in the forty second century. Mildly telepathic. That was the song. It was his mind calling out,” the Doctor realized with a sigh.

“I couldn’t hear anything,” Donna shrugged.

“He was calling out to you,” Ariel said with sad eyes and the Doctor just nodded, hating the fact that what she said was true. He didn’t want to be there to watch an Ood die helplessly. He only wished he could have done something.

“He sang as he was dying,” Donna breathed.

The Doctor frowned at the Ood’s closed eyelids. “His eyes turned red,” he mumbled.

“And he roared,” Ariel nodded.

“What’s that mean?” Donna wondered.

“Trouble. Come on,” the Doctor said. He held out his hand to Donna and they walked together while he kept his other arm wrapped around Ariel’s shoulders. “The Ood are harmless. They're completely benign. Except, the last time I met them, there was this force, like a stronger mind, powerful enough to take them over,” he told them.

“What sort of force?” Donna asked.

“Oh, long story,” the Doctor sighed.

“Long walk,” Donna reminded him with a raised eyebrow. Ariel grinned and nodded along with her.

“It was the Devil,” the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly.

Donna rolled her eyes. “If you're going to take the mickey, I'll just put my hood back up,” Donna muttered, releasing the Doctor’s hand and putting her hood back up.

“Was it really the Devil?” Ariel asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Mmm,” the Doctor nodded. “Didn’t wanna believe it at first. Quite honestly, I thought it was a load of rubbish, but he’s gone now and that’s what matters most.”

“My dad believed in the Devil,” Ariel mumbled. “He said he wouldn’t believe in God, but evil,” she nodded. “Evil was real in this world and if he had to give it a name, it would be the Devil.”

“Smart man,” the Doctor nodded.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “He was pretty brilliant.”

The Doctor smiled softly down at her before taking a deep breath and carrying on with their former conversation. “It must be something different this time, though. Something closer to home,” he frowned.

“Oh, that’s a pleasant thought,” Ariel said sarcastically. 

“Ah ha!” The Doctor laughed. “Civilisation!” He exclaimed as they entered the city.

“Doctor!” Ariel giggled as he bolted forwards, getting a good look at everything on the planet he had never been to before.

After a bit of walking around, the Doctor had insisted they all go where the real heart of the planet lies: in its factories.

Donna had openly voiced her displeasure with the idea, but had followed him regardless, as they ran up to the large factory complex, seeming to take up its own city with its very presence.

Guiding visitors inside was a short, dark haired woman, undoubtedly the PR woman and tour guide. 

“Perfect,” the Doctor grinned. “We arrived right on tour day,” the Doctor said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ood Sphere. And isn't it bracing? Here are your information packs, with vouchers, 3D tickets and a map of the complex. My name's Solana, Head of Marketing. I'm sure we've all spoken on the vidfone. Now, if you'd like to follow me,” Solana instructed.

“Looks like they’re closing up,” Ariel remarked with a small frown.

“Oh, no,” the Doctor mumbled. “Come on,” he instructed the woman. They all bolted forward, catching the very tail end of the line entering the building. They arrived just as Solana was getting ready to close the doors. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. Late. Don't mind us. Hello. The guards let us through,” the Doctor shrugged, grinning wildly at the woman.

“And you would be?” Solana prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“The Doctor,  Ariel Parsons and Donna Noble,” the Doctor introduced, pointing to each of them in turn.

“Representing the Noble Corporation PLC Limited, Intergalactic,” Donna said fluidly, earning a wide eyed gaze from Ariel. 

“She was a temp,” the Doctor whispered in Ariel’s ear and the brunette nodding in understanding. 

If Donna was a temp she would’ve known all the business terms, proving to be very useful if the Doctor didn’t want to use his psychic paper on every single person he met.

Solana peered down at her clipboard and scanned it for the fake business. When she couldn’t find it, she sighed. “Must have fallen off my list,” Solana shrugged. “My apologies. Won't happen again. Now then, Doctor Noble, Mrs Noble, Miss Parsons, if you'd like to come with me.” Solana gestured for them to follow her inside and they were both frozen in place while Ariel broke down in laughter.

To her, it would never get old when people thought Donna and the Doctor were together. They were the farthest thing from a couple Ariel could ever imagine. Sure, extremely close friends, but a relationship between them would be unimaginable, which made the situation so much more hilarious.

“Oh, no, no, no, no. We're not married,” the Doctor shook his head, wide, horror-struck eyes.

“We’re so not married,” Donna agreed.

“Never,” the Doctor sighed.

“Never ever,” Donna nodded.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Doctor Parsons,” Solana said.

“Oh, why is it always me next?” Ariel moaned.

“No, none of us are married,” the Doctor shook his head.

“Of course,” Solana nodded and handed them each a packet about the factory. “And here are your information packs, vouchers inside. Now if you'd like to come with me, the Executive Suites are nice and warm,” she assured them.

Just then, a loud alarm blasted across the factory complex drawing the attention of the trio, much to the displeasure of Solana.

“Oh, what’s that?” The Doctor frowned. “That sounds like an alarm.”

“Oh, it's just a siren for the end of the work shift,” Solana shrugged, blatantly lying to them. “Now then, this way, quick as you can,” she said, ushering the trio inside.

She took one moment to cast a furtive glance back out at the landscape before slamming the door shut behind them.

While Solana took the time to guide them and the other visitors to a presentation area, Ariel took the time to flip through the information packet.

“Bloody hell,” Ariel hummed. ‘This is like the modern-day equivalent of slave trading,” she murmured.

“Oh, don’t tell them that,” the Doctor mumbled, pulling away her information packet. “We need to learn the full extent of what’s going on here. Including the circle. We can’t have them kicking us out right yet,” he sighed.

“Still,” Ariel said. “This is horrible.”

“I know,” the Doctor nodded. “But we can’t say it just yet.”

When they reached the presentation area, there were three Ood standing on a platform while all the visitors circled around to get a good look at them. In the corner of the room, there was an open bar and various Ood were taking around trays of drinks from it.

“As you can see, the Ood are happy to serve, and we keep them in facilities of the highest standard. Here at the Double O, that's Ood Operations, we like to think of the Ood as our trusted friends,” Solana said.

Ariel snorted. “Doesn’t look like it,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, what sort of people force their friends to serve?” Donna wondered with a small frown.

“We keep the Ood healthy, safe, and educated,” Solana carried on. “We don't just breed the Ood. We make them better. Because at heart, what is an Ood, but a reflection of us? If your Ood is happy, then you'll be happy, too,” she smiled and gave a small nod.

“This is the most rubbish I’ve heard in such a short amount of time,” Ariel remarked. “It’s a new record,” she sighed.

The Doctor just chuckled and hugged her closer to his body.

“I'd now like to point out a new innovation from Ood Operations. We've introduced a variety package with the Ood translator ball. You can now have the standard setting. How are you today, Ood?” Solana prompted the first Ood on the platform.

“I’m perfectly well, thank you,” the Ood said in the same voice they had heard from the dying Ood.

“Liar,” Ariel mumbled.

“Oi,” the Doctor snapped, shaking her body.

“I know, I know,” Ariel sighed. “You can hush up.”

The Doctor smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Or perhaps after a stressful day, a little something for the gentlemen. And how are you, Ood?” Solana asked the second Ood on the platform.

“All the better for seeing you,” the Ood responded in a husky feminine voice.

Ariel winced. “Now that’s just disgusting,” she sighed.

“You’re telling me,” Donna nodded, wearing the same grossed out expression Ariel bore.

“And the comedy classic option. Ood, you dropped something,” Solana told the third Ood on the platform.

“D’Oh!” The Ood cried in a Homer Simpson voice.

“Wait, hold on, the Simpsons are still around now?” Ariel frowned the Doctor nodded with a bemused smile. “Blimey, they never die,” she groaned.

“All that for only five additional credits,” Solana grinned. “The details are in your brochures. Now, there's plenty more food and drink, so don't hold back.”

Solana nodded to the crowd before heading out the door. The visitors started to mingle and eat, laughing and chatting merrily with each other as the Ood served them.

The Doctor waved to the women, heading up to Salona’s lectern. He tapped around on it, using it like a computer, occasionally glancing at the big screen on the side wall.

Ariel glanced around the room, frowning at the casual interactions. 

“It’s a bit odd though,” Ariel remarked with a small frown. “Them wanting new voices for the Ood that is. That must mean they’re getting boring, like they’ve had them for a while and now they need new entertainment,” she said.

“Well, you’re right about that,” the Doctor sighed, watching the large screen as it lit up. “The Ood Sphere,” he announced. “I've been to this solar system before. Years ago. Ages. Close to the planet Sense Sphere. Third face,” he told Ariel with a smirk and she grinned at him. He turned back to the screen with a sigh. “Let's widen out. The year 4126. That is the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire.”

Donna’s eyes grew ten sizes at the Doctor’s announcement. “4126?” Donna breathed. “It's 4126. I'm in 4126.”

“And the Simpsons are still alive and well,” Ariel groaned.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” The Doctor grinned.

“Oh, you shut up,” Ariel moaned.

The Doctor just laughed and leapt out from behind the lectern towards them, wrapping an arm around Ariel’s shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed softly. 

“What’s the Earth like now?” Donna wondered. 

“Bit full,” the Doctor shrugged. “But you see, the Empire stretches out across three galaxies,” the Doctor pointed to the planets he had pulled up on the large screen.

“It's weird,” Donna breathed. “I mean, it's brilliant, but. Back home, the papers and the telly, they keep saying we haven't got long to live. Global warming, flooding, all the bees disappearing.”

“Yeah,” Ariel mumbled. “That thing about the bees disappearing is odd.”

“But look at us. We're everywhere. Is that good or bad, though? I mean, are we like explorers? Or more like a virus?” Donna wondered.

“Sometimes I wonder,” the Doctor hummed.

“I’m guessing that’s a little bit of both,” Ariel smirked. “But on a good day, I’d like to think we can be the heroes.”

Donna narrowed her eyes at the image on the screen, frowning at it. “What are the red dots?” 

“Ood distribution centres,” the Doctor replied.

“Blimey, that’s a lot,” Ariel hummed, eyes widening as she took in each and every centre.

“Across three galaxies?” Donna scoffed. “Don’t the Ood get a say in this?”

The Doctor simply shook his head. 

Donna took a deep breath and marched towards one of the Ood carrying a tray of drinks. The Ood offered the tray to the trio and they all shook their heads, unwilling to accept drinks from someone who had no choice in the matter.

“Hello. Tell me, are you all like this?” Donna asked.

“I do not understand, Miss,” the Ood replied.

“Why do you say Miss? Do I look single?!” Donna exclaimed.

Ariel snorted, covering her mouth to hide her laughter in the very serious situation.

“Back to the point,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel flashed a childish grin at him making him smirk.

“Yeah,” Donna mumbled, brushing her hair out of her face as she took a deep breath and looked back up at the Ood. “What I mean is, are there any free Ood? Are there Ood running wild somewhere, like wildebeest?”

“All Ood are born to serve,” the Ood told them. “Otherwise, we would die.”

“But you can't have started like that,” Donna reasoned. “Before the humans, what were you like?” She wondered.

The Ood seemed to falter, unsure of how to properly answer Donna’s question as a simple servant.

“The circle,” the Ood said.

Each of the trio’s eyes simultaneously widened at the sound of the same words they heard of the dying Ood’s mouth.

“What do you mean?” The Doctor asked, stepping forward and meeting the Ood’s eyes which were still their ordinary color, not yet flashing blood red. “What circle?”

“The circle,” the Ood stammered. “The circle is-.”

“Ladies and gentlemen. All Ood to hospitality stations, please,” Solana announced and the Ood walked away before they could get their answer.

The Doctor’s posture fell, sighing softly as the Ood all returned back to Solana. He knew there was no chance they’d get an answer from any of them then. “I've had enough of the schmoozing,” he mumbled.

“Oh, thank God,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor smirked and stretched out his hand to her. “Do you fancy going off the beaten track?” He prompted.

“More than anything,” Ariel grinned, taking his hand happily.

The pair turned to Donna and the Doctor held up a map of the complex from his information packed. Donna just smiled at the both of them. “Rough guide to the Ood Sphere? Works for me,” she shrugged.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed.

“Well, come on then. I can’t listen to this lot ramble on about different types of champagne being served,” Ariel groaned.

The Doctor and Donna just laughed and the trio marched out of the presentation area together.


	11. The Song of Captivity

The Doctor, Donna and Ariel all headed out into the factory complex, hiding when they saw a line of Ood marching towards one of their buildings with their employers marching beside them, ensuring they remained in line. 

One of the Ood at the very back of the line tripped and fell down and the worker closed in on him.

“Get up,” the man snapped.

When the Ood failed to do so immediately, the man grew visibly angry. 

“I said get up!” He repeated.

When the Ood still didn’t get up, the man pulled out a whip and cracked it, forcing the Ood to stand up and continue working.

“Servants?” Donna scoffed. “They’re slaves.”

“I said it,” Ariel sighed. “But I never wanted to actually believe it,” she mumbled.

“Get up!” The man roared. “March!”

“Last time I met the Ood, I never thought,” the Doctor breathed, staring down in shame at his recklessness. “I never asked,” he muttered.

“How could you? You sort of had something much larger going on,” Ariel said. “I reckon you wouldn’t have gotten the chance,” she said. She knew he was likely to beat himself up for not addressing the horrors the Ood have to endure when he was trying to save everyone’s lives and she knew he didn’t deserve it. He always did the best he could and sometimes that came at a cost which he had paid far too often.

“Still,” the Doctor sighed.

“That’s not like you,” Donna remarked.

“Ariel’s right, I was busy,” the Doctor nodded. “So busy I couldn’t save them,” he mumbled, looking down, not meeting the curious eyes of the two women on either side of him. “I had to let the Ood die. I reckon I owe them one,” he shrugged and Ariel smiled.

“We can save them now,” Ariel promised, placing a kind hand on his back. He flashed a soft smile at her before glancing down once more.

Ariel sighed. More than anything, the Doctor deserved something good in his life.

Donna peered down at a bald man in a suit marching across the snow with a scientist and other people walking behind him. “That looks like the boss,” Donna murmured, nodding to the man.

“Let’s keep out of his way,” the Doctor hummed. “Come on,” he sighed, moving the women away from the railing and heading away.

The Doctor pulled out the map from his information packet and they walked through the complex. Ariel wrapped her arm around his and they both peered down at the map, desperately trying to decipher it as they trudged through the snow.

All of a sudden, a sharp, loud whistle from behind them made them both jump and spin around with wide eyes only to find Donna grinning at them with two fingers in her mouth.

“Blimey, that gave me a heart attack,” Ariel sighed, clenching her chest as Donna chuckled.

“Where did you learn to whistle?” The Doctor wondered, frowning at Donna. He put the information packet back in his suit and pulled out his sonic to open the door Donna had brought their attention to.

“West Ham,” Donna sighed. “Every Saturday.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow but said nothing, endlessly fascinated by his ginger friend. He sonicked the door and they headed inside the wide dimly lit area.

Inside were hundreds of large blue plastic containers and a metal arm moving across the cargo, occasionally dropping items and placing them elsewhere.

“Ood export,” the Doctor sighed. “You see?” The Doctor said. He placed his hand on Ariel’s shoulder and pointed up to the long metal arm moving across the cargo. “Lifts up the containers, takes them to the rocket sheds, ready to be flown out all over the three galaxies.”

“What, you mean, these containers are full of?” Donna prompted.

“What do you think?” The Doctor sighed. He walked over to one of the containers and opened it revealing dozens of Ood standing silently, unable to move even an inch without bumping into another Ood.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel mumbled.

It was horrible to look at let alone consider the fact that they would be stuck like that for a while until they were finally released into a life of slavery. Ariel felt sick to her stomach at the very thought of it.

“Oh, it stinks,” Donna muttered, plugging her nose as they walked inside.

“Yeah, put countless creatures in a crowded area together with no option of going anywhere else, over time that can start to happen,” Ariel sighed.

Donna looked up at the Ood with wide eyes.

“How many of them do you think are in each one?” Donna wondered.

“Hundred?” The Doctor guessed with a small shrug. “More?” He assumed.

“This is horrid,” Ariel mumbled.

“Great big empire built on slavery,” Donna sighed, nodding in agreement with Ariel.

“It’s not so different from your time,” the Doctor told them.

“Oi, we haven’t got slaves!” Donna snapped.

“I hate to say it, but he’s right Donna. We sort of do,” Ariel nodded. “Things haven’t changed on Earth, people have just grown more secretive about the things they do.”

The Doctor nodded. “After all, who do you think made your clothes?”

Donna rolled her eyes. “Is that why you travel round with some humans at your side? It's not so you can show them the wonders of the universe, it's so you can take cheap shots?” Donna snapped.

The Doctor looked down and away from the two girls at his side. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t, Spaceman,” Donna said, holding up a warning hand.

“You don’t have to be,” Ariel sighed. She placed a kind hand on his back and smiled softly at him. “I get it.”

The Doctor flashed a quick grin at her while Donna frowned at the Ood. “I don't understand, the door is open, why don't you just run away?” Donna asked.

“For what reason?” One of the Ood wondered.

“You could be free,” Donna shrugged.

“I do not understand the concept,” the Ood replied and Ariel’s heart shattered in her chest.

“What is it with that Persil ball?” Donna asked, pointing at the small globe in each of their hands that lit up each time they spoke. “I mean, they're not born with it, are they? Why do they have to be all plugged in?”

“That is a good question,” Ariel frowned. “Whether or not their born with it.”

The Doctor simply sighed. “Yeah, not one we’ve got time for right now, though. Ood, tell me,” the Doctor requested. “Does the circle mean anything to you?”

Simultaneously, each globe in the shipping container lit up as all of the Ood spoke together. “The circle must be broken,” the all announced before falling silent.

“Oh, that is creepy,” Donna hummed, taking a tentative step back.

Ariel nodded. “At least they’re not all roaring like the other one,” Ariel shrugged.

“You got a point,” Donna conceded.

“What is it?” The Doctor mumbled with a small, adorable frown. “What is the circle?”

Once again, each globe lit up. “The circle must be broken,” they chorused.

“Why?” The Doctor wondered, trying to get a different answer out of the Ood.

“So that we can sing,” the Ood said together.

Ariel took a step back. The Ood didn’t want freedom. They didn’t need the ability to do as they pleased, they just wanted to be able to be free to sing their song. She was ready to break down crying in front of all of them at the very thought.

No living creature deserved to live a life of slavery. 

Before the Doctor could ask the Ood any more questions, a loud alarm started blaring across the factory complex.

The Doctor sighed and grabbed Ariel’s hand. “Oh, that’s us. Come on!” He cried. 

They took off running, slamming the entrance to the container shut behind them. The alarm quickly cut off when they started running, but they knew they couldn’t stop. The alarm had alerted them that the workers knew about them and had discovered where they were and they couldn’t let up for a second with that information.

They slid past one of the doors, knowing they couldn’t go out into the open with the guards all searching for them. However, that information escaped Donna as she smiled at the door, finding an escape for her and her friends. 

“Doctor, Ariel!” Donna called as she watched the pair run down the hallway, unable to hear her. “There’s a door!”

Right after those words escaped her mouth, the door opened and dozens of guards marched in, pointing their guns at her.

As the Doctor and Ariel continued running, they frowned as they realized Donna wasn’t following, beginning to slow down with the realization.

“Where’ve you gone?” The Doctor breathed, peering around the containers.

“Doctor!” Ariel cried as she saw a bunch of guards round the corner and aim their guns at them. 

“Stay where you are!” One of the guards yelled.

Ariel and the Doctor continued running, dodging the guards pointed guns around every corner.

“Donna!” Ariel called.

“Where are you?” The Doctor frowned.

There was an odd silence in the cargo hold, like everyone had just mysteriously vanished.

“Doctor, something’s wrong,” Ariel breathed with a small frown on her face.

“You’re telling me,” the Doctor scoffed.

“No, it’s like all the guards have just off gone,” Ariel said. “Nobody’s chasing us right now.”

The Doctor frowned and peered around with wide eyes, realizing she was right. He couldn’t even hear the footsteps of a guard. 

“You’re right,” he mumbled. “That’s a bit odd, it’s-,” he froze as he saw the mechanical arm that carried the containers with the Ood inside speeding towards them “And I think I just figured out why. Run!” The Doctor cried, grabbing Ariel’s hand and bolting down the corridor.

Ariel watched the mechanical arm with wide eyes as the Doctor dragged her around the containers. “Is this even legal?!” She exclaimed. 

“You’ve seen the Ood, what did you expect?!” The Doctor yelled.

Ariel gulped harshly as the arm drew closer. “Good point,” she mumbled. They passed one of the entrances to a container and Ariel dragged the Doctor back to it. “Come on!” She cried, desperately trying to open the door. However, no matter how hard she tried, it was locked.

The Doctor sighed and pulled her back to his side, continuing to run away from the large metal claw speeding towards them.

They rounded a corner only to have their shoulders both hit by the metal claw, knocking them to the ground. 

Ariel tried desperately to crawl away as the Doctor rolled over, staring up at the claw and panting heavily.

It started lowering slowly and as Ariel looked up at it, her eyes widened and she covered her face in the Doctor’s chest.

He wrapped his arm and held onto her tightly as the claw continued to lower towards the pair.

And then, all of a sudden, it stopped.

The Doctor gasped for air, his hearts racing as he tapped Ariel lightly on the back and she turned to see the claw inches from her face.

Her heart stopped in her chest.

The Doctor took slow yet steadying breaths and raked his fingers through her short brown hair. 

“Come on,” he breathed, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. He helped her up and she placed her forehead on his chest, still shaking from the event.

He rubbed her back in comfort, placing his chin on the top of her head as he hugged her tightly and calmed her down from near death. It was easy to come back from an event when you had trusted the Doctor and knew he would save you, but it was far less easy to recover when the Doctor was about to die with you, right by your side.

When she could finally see straight, she sniffled and pulled out of the Doctor’s arms only to find dozens of guards standing around them with their guns raised.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look before raising their hands in surrender.

Two pairs of guards marched up to them and placed their hands behind their back, not using cuffs, but instead holding their hands in place.

They marched them towards the entrance of the cargo hold and along the way they passed a container with loud banging echoing out of it. 

“Doctor, get me out!” Donna shrieked. “Doctor, get me out of here!”

“I found Donna,” Ariel shrugged nonchalantly and the Doctor chuckled.

“If you don't do what she says, you're really in trouble,” the Doctor warned the guards. “Not from me, from her,” he smirked, gesturing with his shoulder to the woman trapped in the container.

“Unlock the container,” one of the head guards instructed and the others did as he said, allowing Donna to run out and hug the Doctor and Ariel.

“Oh, thank God,” Donna sighed.

“There we go,” the Doctor nodded. “Safe and sound.”

“You alright, Donna?” Ariel prompted.

“Never mind about me,” Donna dismissed with a wave of her hand. “What about them?” She wondered, gesturing to the dozens of red-eyed Ood marching out from the container.

The first Ood walked out and used its small glove to kill the guard by the door, electrocuting him as it lit up brightly just like it did when they spoke.

“Red alert! Fire!” A guard yelled and all of them fired endlessly at the Ood who seemed unfazed as they marched forwards and killed more of them.

Meanwhile, just behind them, the Ood opened another container and peered out with bright red eyes before joining the fighting.

“Shoot to kill!”

While the guards fired the gun, the Doctor gestured to the two women that this was their chance to escape. They shared a nod and ran out alongside Solana who had been walking in the building at the time, undoubtedly to check on the prisoners.

They hid in a small concealed area just outside the cargo building, catching their breath as Solana looked back at the entrance to the cargo hold with wide eyes.

“If people back on Earth knew what was going on here,” Donna sighed.

“Oh, don’t be so stupid,” Solana scoffed.

“Oi!” Ariel snapped. “Don’t call my friend stupid,” she warned.

Donna grinned and Solana just rolled her eyes. “Of course they know what’s going on.”

“They know how you treat the Ood?” Donna frowned.

“They don’t ask,” Solana shrugged. “Same thing.”

“I hate to admit it, but she’s sort of right. If I had been looking to buy an Ood, I’d want to know everything about their past including how they were raised so I could figure out where to go from there,” Ariel said.

“See?” Solana sighed, gesturing to Ariel. “My point exactly.”

“Oh, don’t think I’m on your side, now,” Ariel snapped. “I still think you’re a terrible person for just standing by and watching as they do that to living creatures.”

Solana just rolled her eyes in response.

“Solana, the Ood aren't born like this,” the Doctor told her. “They can't be. A species born to serve could never evolve in the first place. What does the company do to make them obey?” The Doctor asked.

“That’s nothing to do with me,” Solana mumbled.

“Oh, what, because you don’t ask?” The Doctor said, a clear tone of judgment evident in his voice.

“Or, because she doesn’t care enough to find out,” Ariel added, glaring at the woman.

“That’s Doctor Ryder’s territory,” Solana replied simply, ignoring all the jabs.

“Where's he?” The Doctor asked. “What part of the complex? I could help with the red eye. Now show me,” he instructed.

Solana pulled them to the side and pointed to the area in the complex. “There,” she said. “Beyond the red section.”

The Doctor nodded and pulled away, looking down at her with concerned eyes. Ariel smiled softly at the sight. The Doctor hated himself so much, it broke her heart when she saw moments of his genuine kindness and open-heartedness. Moments he never allowed himself to see. 

“Come with us,” the Doctor requested. “You've seen the warehouse. You can't agree with all this. You know this place better than me. You could help,” he suggested with a small shrug.

Solana stepped back and met him with wide eyes. She hesitated for a moment, seeming to seriously consider the offer before she stepped out of their concealed piece of the building directly in front of the guards searching for the trio.

“They're over here!” Solana called, waving the guards to them. “Guards! They're over here.”

The trio took off running to the building Solana had directed them to, not looking back as the guards starting running after them.

The Doctor helped them lose the guards by taking enough twists and turns that the men couldn’t keep up.

Once he was sure they lost them, the Doctor gently guided them toward the Ood Conversion building.

“This way,” he instructed, peeking behind them to ensure they were safe. He was about to uncover was what actually happening to the Ood and he didn’t want any interruptions until he got the full story.

They arrived at the door and the Doctor clutched his head, wincing as he did so. “Oh, can you hear it? I didn't need the map. I should have listened,” he sighed.

“You can hear the song?” Ariel guessed, smiling softly at him.

“You can’t?” The Doctor frowned. “It’s incredibly loud. It’s, ah, it’s terribly sad.”

Ariel watched him in silence for a moment. “Can you help me hear it? Is that possible?” She wondered.

“‘Course it is, but are you sure you want to?” The Doctor wondered. “It’s the song of captivity.”

“I need to hear it,” Ariel nodded. “I need to know.”

The Doctor smiled softly at her and nodded. She was much more brave than she gave herself credit for. He could name few humans that would be willing to hear a song as sad as the one he was listening to. He placed his hands delicately on either side of her head, making a mind meld with her.

“Open your mind, Ariel. Open your mind and listen to the music,” the Doctor murmured. 

She inhaled sharply, closing her eyes as she gradually heard the song fade into her mind.

“Can you hear it?” The Doctor asked.

She looked up at him sadly and nodded. 

“Are you alright?” The Doctor asked. 

“I will be,” Ariel promised, rocking slightly as she dealt with the new song bouncing around in her mind.

The Doctor nodded and wrapped an arm around her, pulling him close to his chest as he sonicked the door open. 

They all headed inside and the Doctor sonicked the door locked, unwilling to deal with any distractions at the moment.

“Hold on. Does that mean we’re locked in?” Donna frowned.

“Listen. Listen, listen, listen, listen,” the Doctor hissed, putting his sonic in his suit and pressing his finger to his lips. 

“Oh, blimey that’s loud,” Ariel mumbled, rubbing her forehead.

The Doctor nodded, rubbing his temple. “Oh, my head,” he moaned.

“What is it?” Donna asked.

Before the Doctor could respond, they walked up to groups of Ood sitting in large cages, turning away from the trio like small children faced with strangers. 

Ariel wanted to drop to her knees and start sobbing as she listened to their song and watched them crowd together finding their only comfort in each other.

“Friends, my arse,” she mumbled, tears filling her eyes as she remembered Solana’s words about how the Ood were their friends.

“They look different to the others,” Donna remarked.

“That's because they're natural born Ood, unprocessed, before they're adapted to slavery. Unspoilt. That's their song,” the Doctor explained, informing Ariel that what she was listening to was the Ood’s song before their forced into slavery.

“They’re crying out and nobody listens,” Ariel sighed.

“That’s because they can’t,” the Doctor replied. “Ignorance is preferable to having to listen to what they’re doing,” he told her.

“Mum always said ignorance is bliss,” Ariel muttered.

“I can’t hear it,” Donna said. “I can’t hear the song.”

“Do you want to?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah,” Donna nodded.

“Are you sure, Donna? Because it’ll only break your heart even further,” Ariel warned. 

“It’s the song of captivity,” the Doctor told her.

“Let me hear it,” Donna insisted.

“Face me,” the Doctor instructed and Donna turned to him. 

He placed his hands on either side of her face, doing the same as he did with Ariel and mind melding with her.

“Open your mind. That's it. Hear it, Donna. Hear the music,” the Doctor breathed.

Meanwhile, Ariel walked slowly to the cage the Ood were in, clutching the bars and leaning her head against them. She cried silently, watching them as she listened to them sing. It was one thing listening to the song outside, it was a whole different thing watching them as they sang. It broke her heart and screamed out to her more than ever why the Doctor did what he did. 

He wanted to save anyone and everyone he could from having their spirits broken or their lives lost. He didn’t want what happened to the Ood to happen across the universe, and so he persisted and saved everyone as often as he could.

It was one of the things that made him all the more wonderful. Throughout her life she had never met many brave people willing to risk their lives to stop injustice, but she certainly admired and loved the Doctor greatly for being one of the first.

The Doctor and Donna walked up behind her and the Doctor wrapped an arm around Ariel, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she continued to cry into his chest. 

Donna watched the Ood inside their cage, starting to cry with Ariel as she listened to the song. 

It was heartbreaking and even the Doctor looked devastated at the sound and sight of what was before him.

“Take it away,” Donna gasped, shuddering as she was overwhelmed with tears for the Ood.

The Doctor moved forward, pulling away from Ariel as he prepared to take the connection to the telepathic field away. “Sure?” He prompted.

Donna nodded. “I can’t bear it,” she breathed.

The Doctor nodded and wordlessly broke her connection with the telepathic field the Ood were producing. Once he did, Donna sighed in relief, grateful to be relieved of that level of sadness.

She noticed the Doctor looking away with forlorn eyes and almost regretted asking him to take it away as she could see he was still overwhelmed with it. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“It’s okay,” he shrugged. He looked down at Ariel and wiped a stray tear from her eyes. “Do you want me to take it away too?” He asked.

“No,” Ariel sniffled, wiping away her tears and taking a moment before standing up straighter. “I can handle it.”

“Are you sure?” The Doctor clarified, gazing at her with wide eyes. He could understand if she had just wanted to listen and then get it out of her head, but carrying that weight is a lot for an ordinary human. He felt his hearts swell as he looked down and saw her gazing up at him firmly. Whether or not she wanted to admit it, Ariel Parsons was one of the strongest humans he knew and for that, he felt himself fall in love with her even more.

“I’m sure,” Ariel nodded. “Besides, we’re gonna save them,” she said, smiling softly.

The Doctor grinned and nodded. “Yeah,” he breathed. “We are.”

“You can still hear it,” Donna muttered.

The Doctor nodded as he pulled Ariel into a hug. “All the time,” he mumbled.

He pulled out of Ariel’s arms and pulled his sonic out of his suit with a sigh, turning to the cage and sonicking it open.

As he did so, there was the loud sound of metal breaking open outside the doors of Ood Conversion.

“They’re breaking in,” Donna announced as the two women watched the front door warily, like there was a caged animal behind it about to break free.

“Ah, let them,” the Doctor shrugged as he headed into the Ood cage.

Ariel turned and when she noticed what he was doing, she walking in right alongside him, Donna followed soon after.

The Ood cowered in the very corner of the cage, bowing their heads in the presence of the trio. The Doctor knelt before one of them and frowned as he noticed that each of them had their hands cupped together, holding onto something the trio couldn’t see and covering it even when they moved as though they were protecting it from the Doctor, Donna and Ariel.

“What are you holding?” The Doctor asked softly. Ariel smiled when she noticed that when talking to them, his tone never grew harsh or rude. He was never anything but nurturing and kind around the Ood. She silently wondered how it was possible that a man as kind and good as he was had managed to walk into her life. “Show me,” the Doctor requested. “Friend. Doctor, Donna and Ariel. Friend. Let me see. Look at me. Let me see. That's it. That's it, go on. Go on,” the Doctor guided them like a mother guiding her infant, gentle and loving in every way.

The Ood in front of the Doctor slowly and gradually opened his hands to reveal a small brain.

Ariel gasped, realizing what it was almost instantly. It looked like a smaller, softer version of the human brain which she had seen dozens of times in the science books she read.

“Is that?” Donna breathed, gesturing to the small brain. Part of her already knew what it was but didn’t want to believe it, needing the Doctor to confirm her terrible suspicions.

“It's a brain,” the Doctor nodded. “A hindbrain. The Ood are born with a secondary brain. Like the amygdala in humans, it processes memory and emotions. You get rid of that, you wouldn't be Donna any more. You'd be like an Ood. A processed Ood.”

Ariel winced at the very thought. The company was treating the Ood with any of the kindness they broadcasted and everytime she thought about one of the lies Solana spouted and looked at the Ood before her, she felt sick to her stomach.

“That’s disgusting,” Ariel muttered and the Doctor nodded in agreement.

“So the company cuts off their brains?” Donna said. 

“And they switch on the translator,” the Doctor nodded.

“Like a lobotomy,” Donna said, wincing at the very thought.

“So, they lose everything,” Ariel concluded. “Their freedom, their memories, their emotions, and even their own language.”

“All to make the perfect slave,” the Doctor spat.

Donna sighed, shifting anxiously as she looked at all the Ood surrounding her. “I spent all that time looking for you, Doctor, because I thought it was so wonderful out here. I want to go home.”

Ariel looked up at her with forlorn eyes, devastated that she would be losing her friend and this would be their last adventure together. Though their time travelling with the Doctor had been short, Ariel had the time of life with her two new friends. She didn’t want to lose one of them so soon.

The Doctor seemed fairly surprised at the remark too. Ariel could see a piece of him holding back. A piece that wanted to beg her to stay being locked away because Ariel and the Doctor both knew that if she wanted to go, neither of them could stop her.

All of a sudden, there was a loud crash from near the door and the sound of dozens of boots marching inside.

“They’re with the Ood, sir,” one of the guards announced.

The Doctor jumped up and swung the door to the cell closed, pressing his face in between the bars as he leered at the men who arrived. “What you going to do, then?!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Arrest me? Lock me up? Throw me in a cage? Well, you're too late. Ha!” He cried.


	12. The Song of Freedom

The Doctor, Donna and Ariel were all handcuffed to some pipes while the head of the business, Mister Halpen glared at them. 

“Why don’t you just come out and say it?” Halpen sighed. “FOTO activists.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Ariel mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

“It is when I have a business to run,” Halpen snapped.

“This isn’t business, this is torture!” Ariel yelled. “This is the enslavement of innocent beings just so you can get your bloody afternoon tea without getting off the sofa.”

“And if that’s what Friends Of The Ood are trying to prove, then yes we are activists,” the Doctor said firmly and the women nodded in agreement.

“The Ood were nothing without us, just animals roaming around on the ice,” Halpen scoffed.

“You mean like any other creature in the bloody universe?” Ariel frowned. “Living in the habitat peacefully?”

Halpen just rolled his eyes at her. They all completely missed as Doctor Ryder, standing by Halpen’s side in a lab coat, gave a small nod, agreeing with the young woman.

“You idiot,” Donna snapped. “They're born with their brains in their hands. Don't you see, that makes them peaceful. They've got to be, because a creature like that would have to trust anyone it meets.”

“Oh, nice one,” the Doctor hummed, smiling softly. 

“Thanks,” Donna sighed. 

“Yeah, go Donna,” Ariel grinned.

Halpen just sighed deeply and stepped back, unwilling to allow the activists bother him too much. “The system's worked for two hundred years. All we've got is a rogue batch. But the infection is about to be sterilised. Mister Kess. How do we stand?” He asked into a small device on his wrist. He left it on speaker so everybody in the room could listen to what they planned to do with the Ood.

“Canisters primed, sir. As soon as the core heats up, the gas is released. Give it two hundred marks and counting,” Mister Kress announced.

“You’re kidding me,” Ariel sighed, slumping back against the pole she was chained to.

“You’re going to gas them?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Kill the livestock. The classic foot and mouth solution from the olden days. Still works,” Halpen shrugged as if there were no issue with killing thousands of living creatures all at once.

He turned back to Doctor Ryder and started discussing information with him that none of the trio could hear. However, the Doctor and Ariel found themselves listening to something else. The song of captivity was growing louder with each passing second.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed. “Is it just me or is the song getting a lot louder?” She mumbled.

The Doctor shook his head, assuring her that she wasn’t going mad. “They all must be singing for this sort of volume,” he hummed.

“What is it?” Donna asked. “What’s going on?”

“All of the Ood are singing the song of captivity,” Ariel muttered.

Donna’s eyes widened. “All of them?” She echoed.

“Apparently,” Ariel shrugged. “It’s maddening how loud it is,” she sighed, desperately wishing she could rub her head or do something to relieve the pain.

Donna noticed Ariel and the Doctor wincing through the pain of the song practically screaming inside their heads and looked down in shame. She should be enduring that pain with them, fighting through it for the Ood, but she couldn’t take it. She was too weak.

Ariel noticed her looking forlornly at the ground and frowned. “Donna, you should be grateful you’re not going through this. You saved yourself from the pain. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I should be with the pair of you. We’re a team,” Donna muttered.

“And sometimes being in a team means you have to look out for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Ariel assured her.

“It sure feels like it,” Donna mumbled.

“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Ariel told her simply.

Quite honestly, Ariel had only held onto the song so she could have a constant reminder of what she was fighting for. Sure, a part of her had done it so if the Doctor had ever winced in pain at the volume she wouldn’t have to stand their feeling bad, aimlessly wondering what he could be going through, but one of the things she loved about the Doctor was his strength while facing pain. She looked up to him for it.

All of a sudden, alarms started blaring across the complex and Ariel groaned in pain. The volume of the singing and the shrieking of the alarm in her ears was enough to make her mind implode. 

The Doctor shifted his cuffs, grappling for a few minutes before finding her hand and squeezing tightly. Ariel smiled softly up at him. If anything, she was grateful to have someone by her side who understood what she was going through and the pain she was enduring.

Halpen spun around, frowning at the sound of the alarm. “What the hell?” He muttered.

He marched outside along with the other guards and Doctor Ryder.

“Oh, great, so we have no idea what the hell is going on out there and are chained to a blood pole,” Ariel groaned. “Just how I pictured spending my Saturday.”

“How'd you know it’s Saturday?” Donna wondered. “I lost track of time the day I stepped into the Tardis with that one,” Donna said, nodding to the Doctor.

“I have a calendar in my room,” Ariel shrugged simply.

Halpen, Doctor Ryder and a single guard marched back into the room looking thoroughly stressed out.

“Change of plan,” Halpen muttered.

“There are no reports of trouble off-world, sir. It's still contained to the Ood Sphere,” Doctor Ryder informed him.

“Then we’ve got a public duty to stop it before it spreads,” Halpen hummed.

“What’s happening?” The Doctor asked.

Halpen turned to the trio and narrowed his eyes. “Everything you wanted, Doctor. No doubt there'll be a full police investigation once this place has been sterilised, so I can't risk a bullet to the head. I'll leave you to the mercies of the Ood,” he shrugged.

Ariel wondered how a man like that could feel so very little for the lives of other living beings.

“They’re fighting back, aren’t they?” Ariel prompted. “The Ood. They’ve finally gotten tired of your rubbish.”

“It hardly matters seeing as after today, you’ll be dead and so will the infected. We will carry on as though this never happened,” Halpen said simply, a proper business man. He started to march out and the Doctor realized that he was about to lose his last chance to get information out of the man in charge.

“But Mister Halpen, there's something else, isn't there? Something we haven't seen,” the Doctor figured out, stopping Halpen in his tracks.

“Who do you mean?” Donna wondered.

“Is it like you said when we first got here?” Ariel asked. “The Ood are probably being controlled by something else this time?” She reminded him.

“Yes, exactly,” the Doctor nodded. “A creature couldn't survive with a separate forebrain and hind brain, they'd be at war with themselves. There's got to be something else, a third element, am I right?”

“And again, so clever,” Halpen smiled, clearly radiating silent hatred for the Doctor.

“But it’s got to be connected to the red eye,” the Doctor reasoned. “What is it?”

Halpen clenched his jaw and marched up to the trio, his demeanor shaking with fury, but Ariel was unsure who it was directed at. It could’ve been directed at the trio, FOTO in general, the Ood outside or whatever the third element was. Whatever he was angry with, he looked like a mad man when he spoke of it.

“ _ It _ won't exist for very much longer,” he spat before his expression fell into a happy, charming, professional manner, smiling at the trio. “Enjoy your Ood,” he said before marching out of the room with the guard and Doctor Ryder.

The Doctor took heavy breaths, his mind whirring as it figured how how to move forward. He pulled at the cuffs on his wrists, struggling to be freed and stop Mister Halpen before it was too late.

“Come on,” he grumbled, hitting the cuffs roughly against the metal bars to no avail.

The two women noticed his actions and started fighting against their cuffs as well, each of them using different tactics to try and get free.

“I seriously wish this was like the movies where a key is conveniently left on the table and we just have to reach it,” Ariel sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

The Doctor laughed and winced as he pulled against the cuffs. “Not the time,” eh mumbled to himself.

Donna grew more and more frustrated at each attempt at freedom failed. She looked back at the Doctor. That was usually around the time he revealed a way to free them and bring them back home, always saving the day. “Well, do something,” Donna snapped at him. “You're the one with all the tricks. You must have met Houdini.”

The Doctor groaned as he pulled against the handcuffs with all the strength he had in him. “These are really good handcuffs,” he muttered.

“Short way of saying he doesn’t have a way out,” Ariel summarized.

“Oh, why couldn’t he just say that?!” Donna snapped. “I don’t care about the bloody quality of the handcuffs right now. Like, sure, we’re about to die but at least we’ve got quality!”

“Oi, go easy on him. He’s just as stuck as we are,” Ariel frowned.

The Doctor smiled quickly at her and Donna just rolled her eyes. “Of course, wouldn’t want to upset the man that got us into this mess in the first place!” Donna roared.

As she fell silent, a new sound replaced her fury. The sound of the door sliding open and three red eyed Ood entering, holding up their translator balls.

The Doctor inhaled sharply. “Doctor, Donna and Ariel. Friends.”

“The circle must be broken!” The girls cried.

“Doctor, Donna and Ariel. Friends.”

“The circle must be broken!”

“Doctor, Donna and Ariel. Friends.”

“The circle must be broken!”

The continued to chant their mantras that they hoped would snap the Ood back to realizing who they were or at least ceasing in the process of killing them, but they only continued to march closer and pull up their translator balls to kill.

Just when they thought all hope was lost, all of a sudden, the three Ood blinked and their red eyes disappeared as they dropped their translator balls.

“Doctor, Donna, and Ariel,” the Ood in the center of the trio said. “Friends,” he nodded.

The trio all simultaneously sighed in relief, Ariel even went as far as collapsing to the ground, her handcuffs hanging over her head as she tried to get her breathing back to normal.

“Yes,” the Doctor breathed.

“That’s us,” Donna nodded.

“Friends,” Ariel smiled softly. “That’s us.”

The Ood freed the trio from their cuffs and Ariel rubbed her wrists, frowning at the marks the metal had made in her skin.

“You alright?” The Doctor asked, placing his hands on her shoulders and staring down at her with wide, doe-like eyes. 

Ariel nodded, a soft smile playing at her lips. “We have to find that third element now, don’t we?”

“Yep,” the Doctor sighed. “Only trouble I have no idea where it could be,” he muttered. He looked over at Donna who was still being helped out of her cuffs by an Ood. “Donna, you alright?”

Donna nodded and the Doctor turned to the Ood.

“Right then, we’re gonna try to stop this from happening. Break the circle if you will,” the Doctor shrugged.

“We wish you good luck. Doctor. Donna. And Ariel,” one of the Ood said.

Ariel smiled quickly at them before the Doctor grabbed her hand and the trio bolted outside, running down the steps to watch the chaos unfold before them.

As the snow fell all around them the Ood were attacking and killing the people who worked at the factory, taking back their freedom by force.

The Doctor peered around wildly, narrowing his eyes through the snow and hoping he could, just by chance, spot Mister Halpen marching into the place where the third element laid. Failing that, he raked his hands through his already wild hair. “I don't know where it is. I don't know where they've gone,” he breathed.

“What are we looking for?”

“Could it be stored in the complex somewhere?” Ariel asked.

“It might be underground, like some sort of cave, or a cavern, or-,” the Doctor listed all the different places it could be when, all of a sudden, a large explosion set off directly behind them, knocking all of them off their feet. 

The trio fell face first into the snow from the impact. The Doctor placed his hand delicately on Ariel’s back. “You alright?”  He breathed.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Ariel mumbled as she turned over and brushed the hair out of her eyes. 

“How about you, Donna, are you okay?” The Doctor asked.

Donna nodded, brushing some snow out of her face as she did so.

Ariel narrowed her eyes across the smoke of the explosion, spotting an Ood that didn’t seem changed. She tapped the Doctor’s shoulder and gestured to him.

“Look,” Ariel breathed. “He doesn’t look different.”

The Doctor frowned and nodded. “Maybe, he can take us to the third element,” the Doctor proposed.

“It’s worth a shot,” Ariel shrugged. 

The Doctor stood up and helped Ariel up before turning to Donna and helping her up as well.

They headed towards the unchanged Ood and the Doctor flashed his most charming smile. 

“Hello, I’m the Doctor. This is Donna,” he said, gesturing to the redhead by his side. “And this is Ariel,” he said, placing his hand delicately on Ariel’s back as she waved kindly. “What’s your name?”

“Designated Ood Sigma,” the Ood replied.

“Ah, well then Ood Sigma. We were looking for something and we were rather hoping you might help us find it. It should be the element or mind if you will that connects you with the others. The way you can all sing together.”

“That would be located in Warehouse 15. I can lead you there if you’d like,” Ood Sigma said.

“Oh, that would be lovely,” Ariel smiled. “Thank you.”

“It is my pleasure, Ariel,” Ood Sigma nodded and she grinned at him.

Ood Sigma guided them through the fighting and gunfire, trudging through the falling snow until the arrived at a large building with the number fifteen painted on the front in light blue.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and aimed it at the door controls. It sparked and allowed the four of them in. Ariel held the door open for Ood Sigma and he nodded his thanks before they all ran down the stairs to a large open room with red lights ringing around it.

The Doctor peered down from the catwalk to what laid beneath with wide eyes. It looked like an enlarged human brain only slightly paler and with dozens of wire poking out of it.

“That looks barbaric,” Ariel remarked, wincing at the sight.

The Doctor nodded in agreement. “Mmm. The Ood Brain. Now it all makes sense, That's the missing link. The third element, binding them together. Forebrain, hindbrain, and this, the telepathic centre. It's a shared mind, connecting all the Ood in song,” he hummed.

Just then, they heard a gun click and turned to see Mister Halpen pointing a gun at them with Doctor Ryder by his side marching towards them from the other end of the room. 

“Cargo,” Mister Halpen proposed. “I can always go into cargo. I've got the rockets, I've got the sheds. Smaller business. Much more manageable, without livestock,” he spat.

“Y’know, each second I know you, Mister Halpen, I somehow manage to think lower and lower of you,” Ariel remarked.

Doctor Ryder marched up towards them, desperate for the trio, who were much more capable of speaking out against Mister Halpen, to know what he had done.

“He’s mined the area,” Doctor Ryder breathed.

Ariel’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me?!” She exclaimed.

“You’re going to kill it?” Donna frowned.

“They found that thing centuries ago beneath the Northern Glacier,” Mister Halper said, nodding to the brain.

The Doctor peered over the edge of the catwalk and frowned at the pylons surrounded the brain, keeping an electrical grid in tact and blocking out the Ood connection.

“Those pylons,” he mumbled.

Donna looked over and her eyes widened as she too realized what the Ood had meant ever since they first arrived. The pylons formed an electrical circle around the brain.

“In a circle,” Donna breathed.

“The circle must be broken,” Ariel said, glaring at Mister Halpen.

Nobody saw Doctor Ryder’s victorious grin at the fact that they understood what was going on.

“Damping the telepathic field. Stopping the Ood from connecting for two hundred years,” the Doctor spat, growing even more furious with Mister Halpen and the position the factory had thrown the defenceless Ood into.

“And you, Ood Sigma, you brought them here. I expected better,” Mister Halpen sneered.

Ariel’s eyes widened. Every second she thought she couldn’t grow to hate Halpen anymore than she already did for what he had done to the Ood without a regret, he somehow managed to make her despise him even more. He ignored them working out what they had been doing to reprimand his servant and force him back into slavery.

“My place is at your side, sir,” Ood Sigma nodded, walking back behind Mister Halpen.

Ariel winced at the sight.

“Still subservient,” Mister Halpen chuckled. “Good Ood.”

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” Ariel sighed, turning away from the sight. 

“Yeah, that makes two of us,” Donna hummed. She turned to the Doctor looking slightly nauseous and slightly curious. “Hold on, if that barrier thing's in place, how come the Ood started breaking out?”

“Yeah, how do you start a revolution with the circle still unbroken?” Ariel wondered.

“Maybe it's taken centuries to adapt,” the Doctor shrugged. “The subconscious reaching out?” He guessed.

“But how would they revolt so quickly?” Ariel asked. “I mean I understand the red eyes, but how could they go from red eyes to this so quickly?”

“You’re right,” Doctor Ryder nodded. “The process was too slow. It had to be accelerated,” he said and turned to Mister Halpen. “You should never give me access to the controls, Mister Halpen. I lowered the barrier to its minimum. Friends Of The Ood, sir. It's taken me ten years to infiltrate the company, and I succeeded,” he beamed.

Ariel smiled softly at the presence of the man. It was nice to see physical proof that not everybody had rolled over and gone along with the Ood becoming slaves to the human race.

Mister Halpen feigned a smile. “Yes,” he nodded. “Yes, you did,” he said. He shoved Doctor Ryder roughly pushing him up and over the bannister.

After that, it was a straight fall into the Ood brain.

“No!” Ariel screamed and the trio bolted forward, all having hands outstretched as a semblance of their late movements as they watched Doctor Ryder be swallowed whole by the brain. “Oh, that is one nasty way to go,” Ariel mumbled, wincing at the sight.

Donna stepped back with wide eyes, breathlessly staring at Mister Halpen. “You murdered him,” she muttered.

“Very observant, Ginger,” Mister Halpen nodded.

“You’re a pig,” Ariel spat and Mister Halpen just chuckled like a sociopath.

“Now, then,” he sighed, rubbing his hands together as he held up his gun and pointed it directly at Ariel’s chest. “Can't say I've ever shot anyone before. Can't say I'm going to like it. But, er, it's not exactly a normal day, is it? Still,” he shrugged.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s wrist to pull he aside but before he could actually move her, Ood Sigma stepped in front of her, holding out a small glass to Mister Halpen.

“Would you like a drink, sir?” Ood Sigma asked.

Mister Halpen simply chuckled. “I think hair loss is the least of my problems right now, thanks,” he scoffed. He tried to shove Ood Sigma to the side, but she just stared at him with wide eyes as Ood Sigma stood firmly in front of her.

“Please have a drink, sir,” Ood Sigma requested.

Mister Halpen frowned as he realized that his own Ood was protecting the young girl. Ariel reached her hand out to Ood Sigma trying to gently coerce him to move to the side so he didn’t get hurt because of her. She knew he felt her hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t move an inch

“If, if you're going to stand in her way, I'll shoot you too,” Mister Halpen warned, but his voice sounded slurred, like he had too much to drink despite only downing hair tonic. The hand holding the gun up was even shaking. Something was seriously wrong.

“Please have a drink, sir,” Ood Sigma repeated.

Mister Halpen’s eyes widened as he realized what Sigma had really been doing to him. “Have, have you poisoned me?” He gasped, using his other hand to keep a steady grip on the gun. 

“Natural Ood must never kill, sir,” Ood Sigma said plainly.

“Well, then what did you give him because that certainly isn’t hair tonic,” Ariel remarked.

Mister Halpen glared at her and she rolled her eyes. 

“Oh, come on. Did you seriously think that stuff was working? You’re a smart man Mister Halpen, you had to have realized that something was wrong with that hair tonic,” Ariel said.

“What is that stuff?” The Doctor asked.

“Ood graft suspended in a biological compound, sir,” Sigma replied.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she turned to the Doctor. “Biological compound,” she echoed. “Does that man what I think it means?” The Doctor nodded and she grinned widely with large eyes.

“What the hell does that mean?!” Mister Halpen cried.

“Oh, dear,” the Doctor hummed, a goofy grin on his face as he swayed delightfully.

“Tell me!” Mister Halpen demanded.

“Funny thing, the subconscious. Takes all sorts of shapes. Came out in the red eye as revenge, came out in the rabid Ood as anger, and then there was patience. All that intelligence and mercy, focused on Ood Sigma. How's the hair loss, Mister Halpen?” The Doctor asked, grinning wildly at the man.

The man’s breaths grew ragged as he combed through his thin hair only to find more of it fall out in his hand as he stared at it in horror. “What have you done?” Mister Halpen gasped.

“Oh, they've been preparing you for a very long time. And now you're standing next to the Ood Brain, Mister Halpen, can you hear it? Listen,” the Doctor instructed, pressing a finger to his lips and gesturing to the brain.

Mister Halpen did as he instructed and his eyes grew wide and filled with terror at what he heard, but could never hear before. 

“Listen to them singing, Mister Halpen,” Ariel smiled. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“What have you?” Mister Halpen breathed. “I’m not-,” he choked. He fell to his knees and choked some more, itching at his balding head before eventually removing the human skin on it. He tore it away and revealed the skull of an Ood lying beneath it.

He dropped his gun and clutched his throat, coughing as the tentacles around the typical Ood mouth popped out. 

“They, they turned him into an Ood?” Donna gasped.

“Yep,” Ariel grinned, looking back at Donna and Mister Halpen. She much preferred the Ood method of making someone that you hate just like you rather than killing them. It was much more humane.

“He’s an Ood,” Donna breathed.

The Doctor nodded. “I noticed,” he hummed.

Mister Halpen sneezed and a small hindbrain popped out and into his hands. He was officially an Ood.

Sigma stepped forward, immediately taking responsibility over the new member of his race. “He has become Oodkind, and we will take care of him.”

“Thank you, Sigma,” Ariel smiled.

Sigma nodded and escorted the Ood previously known as Mister Halpen away.

“It's weird, being with you. I can't tell what's right and what's wrong any more,” Donna frowned. 

“It's better that way,” the Doctor assured her with a nod. “People who know for certain tend to be like Mister Halpen.”

“Or people who think they know for certain,” Ariel amended and the Doctor nodded.

“Right,” the Doctor sighed.

Just then, there was a loud beep and the Doctor’s expression fell as he jumped up, his eyes widening as he hopped over the railing. “Oh!” He exclaimed, completely forgetting that he needed to stop the explosives.

“That’s better,” the Doctor sighed as Sigma returned. The Doctor marched over to the controls and flashed a smile at Ood Sigma. “And now, Sigma, would you allow me the honour?” He asked, grinning anxiously like a small child.

“It is yours, Doctor,” Sigma nodded and the Doctor laughed like a child at a park as he finally freed the Ood from their restraints.

“Oh, yes!”  He cried. “Stifled for two hundred years, but not any more. The circle is broken. The Ood can sing!” The Doctor exclaimed.

Music wrapped around their minds, but not the sad music they were used to. This song brought hope and joy for the future. It was a song that brought a smile to everyone’s faces.

“I can hear it!” Donna grinned, overjoyed with the song she was listening to.

“This,” Ariel sighed with a small nod. “This is a beautiful song.”

The Doctor jumped around, wrapping Ariel in a hug and swaying softly to the music.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked the women.

Donna sighed softly and nodded, grinning wider than either had ever seen before. “Let’s go,” she breathed.

The Doctor looked down at Ariel and raised an eyebrow. “Ariel?” He prompted.

“Let’s go home,” she smiled, forcing the Doctor into a grin that Ariel was more than happy to put on his face.

~~~

The Doctor, Donna and Ariel all stood outside the Tardis with Ood surrounding them, wishing to pay them their final thanks before they departed.

“The message has gone out. That song resonated across the galaxies. Everyone heard it. Everyone knows. The rockets are bringing them back. The Ood are coming home,” the Doctor smiled.

“We thank you, Doctor Donna, and Ariel, friends of Oodkind. And what of you now? Will you stay?” Ood Sigma asked. “There is room in the song for you.”

“You’re very kind, Sigma, but we can’t,” Ariel said softly. 

“I've, I've sort of got a song of my own, thanks,” the Doctor shrugged and Ariel snorted, rolling her eyes at him as he grinned down at her.

“I think your song must end soon,” Sigma said, making them all freeze and stare at him with wide eyes. 

“Sorry, what?” Ariel prompted.

“Meaning?” The Doctor requested.

“Every song must end,” Sigma said simply.

The Doctor sighed softly, accepting the answer but still seeming on edge. 

“Yeah,” the Doctor nodded awkwardly. He turned back to Donna and took a deep breath. “Er, what about you? You still want to go home?”

“Oh, right,” Ariel sighed, her smile falling into a pout at the idea of her friend leaving.

Donna just beamed at the pair of them. “No,” she said. “Definitely not.”

“Yay!” Ariel exclaimed, jumping up and wrapping Donna in a hug. 

The Doctor smiled, clearly trying to hide how happy he was at the news as he turned back to the Ood. “Then we’ll be off,” he sighed.

“Take this song with you,” Sigma requested.

“We will,” Donna nodded.

“Always,” the Doctor promised.

“Thank you,”  Ariel smiled.

“And know this, Doctor Donna, and Ariel. You will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the Doctor Donna, and Ariel, and our children's children, and the wind and the ice and the snow will carry your names forever,” Sigma said and Ariel beamed at the Ood before entering the Tardis with the Doctor and Donna. 

The Ood sang as the Tardis dematerialized from that spot, flying off into all of time and space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to add Ariel's name in so awkwardly so the Doctor Donna could still work, I'm laughing it looks so weird to me, but maybe that's just because it's 4 am.


	13. The Last Companion

Ariel watched with wide eyes as Donna flew the Tardis, the Doctor staring at her as she did so as though watching a child recklessly toy with his most valuable possession.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this!” Donna exclaimed gleefully.

“Neither can I,” the Doctor breathed.

“Neither can I!” Ariel exclaimed. “How come you never allow me to fly the Tardis?!”

“I tried to teach you,” the Doctor nodded. “After the Ood, but you’re now the reason why the Tower of Pisa is now called the Leaning Tower,” the Doctor reminded her.

“Well, that was my first try,” Ariel moaned. “I bet you weren’t perfect on your first try.”

“Yeah, but I at least didn’t make a new international landmark out of it,” the Doctor retorted.

“Oi!” Ariel snapped. “Nobody would even know about that bloody tower if it wasn’t for me. So, technically I’ll helped Italy’s tourist industry boom,” she smiled.

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,” the Doctor hummed and she crossed her arms, pouting as she plopped back onto the jumpseat. “Oh careful!” The Doctor exclaimed. He hit the console with a hammer a few times, pulled down a lever then moved away so Donna could take control again. “Left hand down. Left hand down!” The Doctor cried. “Getting a bit too close to the 1980s.”

“What am I going to do, put a dent in them?” Donna scoffed.

“Well someone did,” the Doctor mumbled looking pointedly at Ariel.

“It was my first try!” Ariel exclaimed. “You seem to remember all the bad, but you’re forgetting that I landed her almost perfectly!”

“Yeah, it’s the almost that concerns me,” the Doctor muttered and Ariel rolled her eyes.

Just then, a mobile started ringing and Ariel turned to the sound curiously. She picked it up and checked the caller ID.

Martha Jones.

“Doctor!” Ariel called. “It’s for you,” she said. 

The Doctor jumped over and picked it up while Donna frowned at them. “Hold on,” Donna muttered. “That’s a phone. You’ve got a mobile? Since when?”

“I’ve decided to stop asking questions when it comes to him,” Ariel shrugged.

“It’s not mine,” the Doctor said before flipping the phone and collapsing onto the jumpseat by Ariel’s side. “Hello?” He prompted.

_ Martha Jones _ , Ariel mouthed to Donna, pointing to the phone.

Donna’s eyes widened and the Tardis jumped uncomfortably as Donna’s attention was momentarily diverted.

“Do I have to do this the whole time he’s on the phone?!” Donna exclaimed.

“Here,” Ariel said, standing up and taking the controls. “Let me.”

“No, no, no, no!” The Doctor cried, jumping up and grabbing the controls from Ariel. “I’ve got it. I’m here,” the Doctor sighed.

Ariel smiled softly and rolled her eyes. “You will be teaching me how to fly her properly though, right?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

“I knew it,” Ariel smirked.

Donna chuckled and wrapped an arm around the brunette, pulling her into a friendly side hug. “Oh, you know he can’t stay mad at you for more than five minutes,” Donna hummed. “You’re the only reason he doesn’t stay angry most of the time.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Ariel sighed. “I haven’t spoken to him alone since Pompeii,” she mumbled.

“Well, there’s probably a good reason for that,” Donna shrugged. 

“I hope not,” Ariel muttered. If there was a good reason for it, that meant the Doctor was knowingly avoiding her after what they possibly could’ve done. That meant he was unwilling to let go of his anxiety for a brief second and allow himself to be happy, but that also meant Ariel would never have to tell him about her past.

So, maybe this was a good thing. Maybe, she and the Doctor should never move beyond close friends. 

However, when he looked up at her with those beautiful brown eyes and smirked, Ariel realized that the hope that they may just remain friends was futile at best. She had fallen too hard to come out on the other side alive.

The Doctor landed the Tardis with a loud sigh and grinned at the women. “Right then, Martha says she’s working for UNIT now and they’ll be needing some help, so I’m gonna go out there and meet her and er- yeah,” he shrugged awkwardly before racing outside.

Ariel chuckled and Donna walked up to her side as they watched the Doctor greet his old friend through the Tardis door.

When he disappeared and they heard the pair laughing, Donn and Ariel shared a hug and headed out, watching the scene cautiously as they were both unsure how to introduce themselves.

Martha Jones had beautiful dark hair, combed back and out of her face and a gorgeous complexion, donning a leather jacket and a small UNIT ID card pinned to it. She was so gorgeous, Ariel was almost intimidated by the very sight of her. She pulled the sleeves of her shirt over her hands nervously as she watched the woman take a deep breath and glance back up at the Doctor.

“Right,” Martha sighed. “Should have known. Didn't take you long to replace me, then,” she remarked. “And with two people,” she frowned.

“Now, don't start fighting,” the Doctor reprimanded and Ariel rolled her eyes. He was always one for dramatics. “Martha, Donna, Ariel. Donna, Ariel, Martha. Please don't fight. Can't bear fighting,” he sighed.

Ariel rolled her eyes and the two women stepped forward to shake Martha’s hand.

“As if,” Ariel scoffed.

“You wish,” Donna mumbled.

The women all shook hands and Donna smiled kindly at Martha. “I've heard all about you. He talks about you all the time,”  Donna sighed.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and she sighed almost in relief. She wasn’t the best when it came to meeting new people, especially not when they were people who had left the Doctor because they developed a crush on him. It wasn’t easy looking at the physical reminder of why she should have never fallen in love with the Doctor, so it was nice when the Doctor offered her comfort, even if it was in the smallest form.

“I dread to think,” Martha frowned, clearly assuming the Doctor rambled on about her and instead of it being a nice thing, it was incredibly frustrating.

“Oh, no,” Ariel frowned. “He hasn’t said bad things,” she assured the woman.

Martha gave a brief smile and her eyes lingered on the sight of the Doctor’s hand in Ariel’s for just a moment too long. The Doctor must have moved on as well and while Martha felt a twinge of envy for the young woman, wishing she could’ve been the one holding his hand, she was glad that he finally found someone he could move on from Rose with.

“No, no, no,” Donna shook her head, eyes wide as she realized what Martha had assumed she was talking about. “No, he says nice things. Good things. Nice things. Really good things,” she assured her awkwardly, trying not to hint at the fact that the Doctor had told them about Martha’s crush on him, but failing tremendously.

Martha sighed softly as she realized. “Oh, my God,” she moaned. “He’s told you everything,” she muttered, rubbing her head.

Ariel felt a swell of pity for the young woman. She knew it couldn’t exactly be easy dealing with the aftermath of a crush on an ageless alien.She was about to offer some words of comfort when Donna’s eyes widened and she smiled at Ariel, nodding to the ring on Martha’s finger.

Ariel’s jaw dropped and she grinned. It was nice to see that the woman was moving on to a life after the Doctor. At times Ariel wondered how a life past him was possible. All the things he shows people, it would be very difficult for her to return to her daily life with school, work and her mum after seeing the universe he had shown her, but somehow, people managed to do it.

“Didn’t take you long to get over it though,” Donna remarked. “Who’s the lucky man?” She asked, gesturing to the ring on Martha’s finger.

Martha looked down at it with a small smile dancing across her lips. Ariel was glad to see that she was happy with someone else after the Doctor. It was nice to find hope in her.

“Congratulations, by the way,” Ariel nodded and Martha grinned.

“Thanks,” Martha said.

“What man?” The Doctor frowned. “Lucky what? Congratulations?”

Ariel snorted, covering her mouth to hide her laughter as Martha and Donna exchanged a knowing grin. 

“She’s engaged, you prawn,” Donna sighed.

“Really?” The Doctor asked with wide eyes. “Who to?”

Ariel giggled and shook her head. “You’re like a big kid you know that?” She grinned. 

The Doctor smirked at her quickly and turned back to Martha with wide eyes. She simply laughed at the sight.

“Tom. That Tom Milligan. He's in pediatrics. Working out in Africa right now. And yes, I know, I've got a doctor who disappears off to distant places. Tell me about it,” Martha sighed, smiling as she rolled her eyes dramatically.

Ariel chuckled. Though Martha seemed to believe her love for Tom Milligan was still mirroring a piece of her love for the Doctor, she still seemed happy. Looking up at the Doctor, Ariel knew that even if the man did care about her, she would be hard pressed to get him to admit it and be willing to open himself up to a relationship, so she might as well start figuring out what she do after the Doctor as well.

There was no way she could stay on board with him if she confessed her feelings and nothing happened.

“Is he skinny?” Donna asked and Ariel snorted. Donna made many comments about how skinny the Doctor was to her amusement and the Doctor’s displeasure.

“No, he’s sort of strong,” Martha shrugged, blushing slightly as she spoke about her fiance’s strength.

“He is too skinny for words,” Donna snapped, gesturing to the Doctor “You give him a hug, you get a paper cut!” She exclaimed, making Martha laugh. “Honestly, the last place we went, this one over here,” she gestured to Ariel who paled considerably at the attention brought to her. “She managed to fit into his coat and that bloody thing wouldn’t fit a rat!”

“Donna,” Ariel moaned.

“Oh, I’d rather wish you were fighting,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel nodded firmly in agreement.

“Speaking of which,” Martha said, taking a deep breath as she spun around and pulled out her walkie-talkie.

“Doctor Jones, report to base, please. Over,” a woman’s voice requested through the walkie-talkie.

“This is Doctor Jones. Operation Blue Sky is go, go, go. I repeat, this is a go,” Martha announced.

They darted forwards and a convoy of jeeps, trucks and a squad of the Parachute Regiment went past them.

“Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Raise that barrier, now!” One of the soldiers yelled. 

They headed toward a factory with a sign reading ‘ATMOS’ at the top and a car with Army top brass went past before all the soldiers went into the factory.

“Leave those safeties on, lads. They're non-hostiles,” another soldier instructed as they all grabbed various workers in the factory and brought them down to their knees in broad daylight.

“All workers, lay down your tools and surrender,” a voice said over a PA system to the whole factory.

“Greyhound Six to Trap One. B Section, go, go, go. Search the ground floor. Grid pattern delta,” Martha yelled into her walkie-talkie.

“What are you searching for?” The Doctor wondered.

“Illegal aliens!” Martha cried before running across the street to the factory.

“This is a UNIT operation. All workers lay down your tools and surrender immediately,” the PA voice said once again.

“B section mobilised. E section, F section, on my command,” Martha instructed before running off to join the troops under her command.

“Is that what you did to her?” Donna asked. “Turned her into a soldier?”

“I think it’s pretty brave,” Ariel remarked and the Doctor and Donna frowned down at her. “What? I dated this bloke in tenth year. He wanted to be a soldier, but I didn’t have it in me to follow him. It takes guts to do this stuff and I’d like to think that’s what you did to her. You gave her the courage to do this sort of stuff,” Ariel smiled softly up at the Doctor. 

The Doctor grinned, feeling a bit more at ease with that idea rather than thinking that he forced her into a life of bloodshed and death. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Not a problem,” Ariel muttered with a small smile, unwilling to address the small flip her heart had done.

Martha marched back towards them after all the chaos, a large grin on her lips after the operation had been a success.

“Blimey,” Ariel sighed. “That was a bit maddening.”

“All part of the job now I suppose,” Martha shrugged with a small smile. 

“Ah, Martha Jones, I remember the day you were just another medical student,” the Doctor sighed and Martha grinned up at him. “And you’re qualified now,” he remarked, nodding to her ID badge. “You’re a proper doctor.”

“UNIT rushed it through, given my experience in the field,” Martha shrugged proudly. “Here we go,” she said, gesturing for them to follow her across the street to a large pantechnicon truck. “We're establishing a field base on site. They're dying to meet you,” she smiled.

“Wish I could say the same,” the Doctor sighed, grabbed Ariel’s hand and following Martha up the steps into the mobile UNIT base.

“What, not a fan of soldiers?” Ariel guessed.

“Quite the contrary. Not a fan of wars,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Is anyone?” Ariel asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Fair point,” the Doctor shrugged.

They headed into the base through a class door to a room of soldiers tapping away on their computers as a tall man with blonde hair in a soldier’s uniform overlooked their work.

“Operation Blue Sky complete, sir,” Martha told the man. “Thanks for letting me take the lead,” she smiled. “And, this is the Doctor. Doctor, Colonel Mace.”

Colonel Mace stood up straighter and saluted. “Sir,” he said.

The Doctor winced, squeezing his eyes shut and looking away. “Oh, don’t salute,” he moaned.

The man seemed confused as he lowered his hand, frowning, unsure of how to show the Doctor his respect for him making Ariel chuckle at the sight. “But it's an honour, sir,” Colonel Mace muttered awkwardly. “I've read all the files on you,” he said like some over obsessed fan. “Technically speaking, you're still on staff. You never resigned.”

Ariel rolled her eyes. “Of course, you would just leave a job without resigning,” she sighed. 

“Oi, I was busy,” the Doctor snapped. 

“You’re always busy,” Ariel frowned.

“You’re not wrong there,” the Doctor sighed.

“What, you used to work for them?” Donna frowned. 

“Yeah, long time ago. Back in the 70's. Or was it the 80's? But it was all a bit more homespun back then,” the Doctor muttered.

“Times have changed, sir,” Colonel Mace said simply as though he were talking to an old man still stuck in his ways.

Technically, Ariel realized with a start, he was. It was easy to forget the Doctor’s age after a while when he wore such a young face.

The Doctor just rolled his eyes at the remark. “Yeah, that’s enough of the sir,” he sighed.

“You are technically hundreds of years older than them. They just feel like they should address you properly,” Ariel muttered to the Doctor.

“Then let them hold open the door for me, I’m not in a position of authority,” the Doctor said. 

“Suit yourself,” Ariel shrugged. “I could do with a ma’am now and then.”

The Doctor smirked. He always enjoyed Ariel putting a kind turn on everything he despised having to face.

“Come on, though, Doctor. You've seen it. You've been on board the Valiant. We've got massive funding from the United Nations, all in the name of Home World Security,” Martha beamed, openly expressing her pride in Unit.

“A modern UNIT for the modern world,” Colonel Mace nodded with a large grin.

“Oh, that’s a good slogan for boot of the car,” Ariel hummed, a small smile on her face while Colonel Mace glared at her.

The Doctor chuckled, hugging Ariel close to his chest. 

“What, and that means arresting ordinary factory workers, in the streets, in broad daylight? It's more like Guantanamo Bay out there. Donna, by the way. Donna Noble, since you didn't ask. I'll have a salute,” Donna snapped. 

Ariel’s eyes widened and she gazed at everyone, desperately anticipating their reactions. 

They all seemed fairly awestruck at Donna’s sudden outburst and she grinned. “Alright, Donna!” Ariel exclaimed and Donna beamed at her.

Colonel Mace looked at the Doctor who gave an obvious nod with wide eyes, silently telling him that he should definitely salute to the ginger. Colonel Mace frowned and turned to Donna.

“Ma’am,” he saluted.

“Thank you,” Donna nodded with a small smile.

“Okay, so what was so important in the ATMOS factory that you needed to arrest workers in broad daylight?” Ariel wondered.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed. “Tell me, what was going on in that factory?”

“Yesterday, fifty two people died in identical circumstances, right across the world, in eleven different time zones. Five a.m. in the UK, six a.m. in France, eight a.m. in Moscow, one p.m. in China,” Colonel Mace told them.

“You mean they died simultaneously,” the Doctor summarized and Ariel’s eyes widened.

“What? Fifty two people across the world died the same way at the same time?” Ariel prompted. “Blimey,” she hummed.

“Exactly,” Colonel Mace nodded. “Fifty two deaths at the exact same moment, worldwide.”

“How did they die?” The Doctor asked with a small frown.

“They were all inside their cars,” Colonel Mace sighed and the Doctor and Ariel shared a wide-eyed gaze.

“They were poisoned,” Martha said. “I checked the biopsies. No toxins. Whatever it is, left the system immediately.”

“So, they must’ve been poisoned by vapors,” Ariel concluded with a nod.

“Right,” the Doctor mumbled. “What have the cars got in common?” He asked.

“Completely different makes,” Martha said. “They're all fitted with ATMOS, and that is the ATMOS factory,” she told them, gesturing to the factory outside the truck.

“What’s ATMOS?” The Doctor frowned.

“Oh, come on,” Donna moaned. “Even I know that. Everyone's got ATMOS.”

“Well, we haven’t so what is it?” Ariel asked. 

Martha sighed and glanced at the Colonel and the trio. “Follow me,” she instructed. The headed outside and walked across the street to the ATMOS factory. “ATMOS,” Martha said. “Stands for Atmospheric Omission System. Fit ATMOS in your car, it reduces CO2 emissions to zero.”

“Zero?” The Doctor frowned. “No carbon, none at all?” The Doctor clarified.

Martha shook her head, confirming what she had already told them.

“Blimey, I can see why it’s popular,” Ariel remarked. “With all the planet saving stuff going ‘round, people would give anything to feel like they’re taking care of the environment,” she sighed.

“And you get sat-nav and twenty quid in shopping vouchers if you introduce a friend. Bargain!” Donna exclaimed with a grin. Ariel just giggled and rolled her eyes at the amusing ginger woman.

“And this is where they make it, Doctor,” Colonel Mace announced and Ariel jumped back. She had genuinely hoped they had left him in the truck. “Shipping worldwide. Seventeen factories across the globe, but this is the central depot, sending ATMOS to every country on Earth.”

“And you think ATMOS is alien,” the Doctor nodded.

“It sort of seems like it is,” Ariel mumbled with a small shrug.

Colonel Mace gestured to Ariel as if she were proof enough that something was up with ATMOS. “It’s our job to investigate that possibility,” he said.”Doctor?” Colonel Mace prompted, waving to the man to follow him. 

The Doctor did as he requested, grabbing Ariel’s hand to bring her along. Whatever he was shown or figured out, he needed her by his side to not only keep him sane, but to bounce ideas off of. He trusted Donna could uncover information outside of what he was being shown and knew that she would probably be able to bring him something even more valuable. 

More than anything, he depended on Ariel to keep him from going mad and yelling at every single soldier surrounding him.

She smiled softly at him and he grinned, feeling a swell of relief at the very sight.

Colonel Mace guided them through a plastic strip curtain to a small office inside. At the center of the room there was a small table with a device laid on top of it. 

An ATMOS device.

“And here it is, laid bare. ATMOS can be threaded through any and every make of car,” Colonel Mace said.

The Doctor picked it up and started inspecting it, occasionally bouncing small facts about it off of Ariel to her amusement. She loved the Doctor’s chaotic personality. She enjoyed listening to every word he said and while she saw others often zoning out or waiting for him to get to his final point, she loved hearing every bit of what he had to say. She thought of it like reading a novel and wanting to know every bit of information about your favorite character so you read every line they said, every thought they produced. She wanted to hear all of the Doctor’s thoughts, as mad as they seemed to everyone else.

“You must’ve had this checked before it went on sale,” the Doctor assumed.

“We did,” Martha nodded. “We found nothing,” she shrugged. “That’s why I thought we needed an expert.”

The Doctor walked around to the computers and put on his small brown glasses. Ariel smirked. He looked extremely adorable with those on. They somehow managed to make the ageless Time Lord look even younger than he already did.

“Really?” The Doctor prompted, rifling through the equipment. “Who’d you get?” He asked.

Ariel snorted, covering her mouth as she beamed up at the Doctor. “Erm, Doctor?” She said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“What?” He frowned and she smirked. His eyes widened as he realized what she silently meant. “Oh, right. Me, yes. Good,” he nodded.

Ariel just chuckled and shook her head with Colonel Mace and Martha left. 

“Okay. So why would aliens be so keen on cleaning up our atmosphere?” Donna wondered.

“A very good question,” the Doctor nodded.

“Maybe they want to help,” Donna shrugged. “Get rid of pollution and stuff,” she guessed.

“No, I don’t think that’s it,” Ariel frowned. “With this equipment they gain access to all the car’s systems. It’s easily explainable in a quick check, but it could be something more,” she mumbled.

“Very good, Ariel,” the Doctor hummed and she grinned. He sighed and spun around to look through the computer he had been checking. “Do you know how many cars there are on planet Earth?”

“Must be just near the world’s population,” Ariel guessed.

“Eight hundred million,” the Doctor nodded. Ariel’s eyes widened and he smiled softly, knowing she was thinking along the same lines as he was. “Imagine that,” he sighed. “If you could control them, you'd have eight hundred million weapons.”

 


	14. The First Secret

_ Ariel reached out, turning the radio up as high as it would go, blasting the song throughout the car. _

_ A dark-haired man driving the car, sitting by her side laughed loudly. “You’re gonna go deaf from that!” _

_ “‘Listen baby!’” Ariel cried, singing loudly with a large grin painted across her face. “‘Ain’t no mountain high, ain’t no valley low, ain’t no river wide enough, baby!’” _

_ He chuckled and turned it down.  _

_ “Oi!” Ariel snapped. “I don’t turn down your bloody music!” _

_ “Yeah, but this is my car so I have final say,” he laughed. _

_ Ariel scoffed. “You’re such a hypocrite, Ross! If we were in my car you’d be going on about how you’re the guest so you deserve to get the radio!” _

_ “Well, when we’re in your car you can say something about it,” Ross smirked. _

_ Ariel just rolled her eyes. “I hate you,” she sighed. _

_ Ross chuckled. “No, you don’t,” he mumbled before reaching across the seat to plant a gentle kiss on Ariel’s cheek.  _

_ She grinned momentarily, happier than she ever thought possible until a loud thud changed that forever. _

_ Ariel and Ross both jumped back in their seats. Ross slammed his foot down on the brake and the car skidded to a stop before they both jumped out of the car. _

_ What they saw before it, changed their lives for good.  _

_ A man laid on the ground, clearly injured by the car with his bicycle by his side, the metal bent by the car. _

_ “Oh, my God,” Ariel gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as she turned away while Ross stared at the body with wild eyes.  _

_ Ariel knelt down and slowly crawled towards the body. She turned him over and peered down at the face, her fingers grazing his neck and feeling his absent pulse. _

_ Ariel covered her mouth and felt her stomach turn. She scrambled away and Ross sighed. _

_ “He was hit by a car, Ari, he’s not gonna look too good,” Ross said. _

_ “No, no, it’s not that,” Ariel shook her head. She looked up at Ross with wide eyes. “He doesn’t have a pulse.” _

_ Ross’s eyes widened and he knelt down, immediately doing CPR on the man, but sat back, sighing with his failure. _

_ “We need to call the police,” Ross mumbled.  _

_ “It’s my fault,” Ariel frowned. “I distracted you. I shouldn’t have been rambling on to you while you were driving.” _

_ “I should’ve been paying attention, Ari,” Ross frowned. “This isn’t your fault.” _

_ “I just-,” she sighed, glancing around. “I think I’m gonna head home. It’s only a kilometer back. You can stay and wait for the police.” _

_ “But, Ariel-.” _

_ “Bye, Ross,” Ariel sighed casting one last regretful look at the fallen man before jogging back home. _

_ ~~~ _

_ Eight days later, there was a soft rapping on Ariel’s door. After missing classes and not showing her face for a week, Ross stopped by his girlfriend’s home to make sure she was alright. _

_ She swung open the door and looked anything but. Her hair was a wreck, appearing as though it hadn’t been brushed for months rather than just a week. She was wearing a pair of pyjamas that Ross could easily guess she hadn’t changed out of the entire week and she looked like she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep for ages.  _

_ “Hi,” she said, her voice grave and low. _

_ “I brought you these,” Ross tried, holding up a bunch of roses. “I thought you might need something to make you feel better,” he winced. “You always used to say roses were the only flower you actually liked.” _

_ “I saw on the tele. He had a wife. A family.” _

_ “It wasn’t your fault,” Ross shook his head. _

_ “I know you were driving the car, but if I hadn’t been there you would’ve dodged that man. You would’ve avoided killing him.” _

_ “You can’t put yourself through this,” Ross insisted. _

_ “I deserve it,” Ariel sighed.  _

_ Before Ross could dispute that claim, Ariel’s mum came rushing forward and stepped in front of her daughter.  _

_ “Oi!” Carol snapped. “Get on out of here! You don’t have the right to talk to my daughter after what you put her through!” She yelled.  _

_ “Mum, it wasn’t him I told you!” Ariel cried. _

_ “Yeah, well, he’s not gonna stick around to remind you of it love, come on,” Carol hummed. _

~~~

Years later, Ariel sat by the Doctor’s side, peering over his shoulder as he inspected the components of the ATMOS device.

“Ionising nano-membrane carbon dioxide converter. Which means that ATMOS works. Filters the CO2 at a molecular level,” the Doctor murmured.

“But that was probably done to pass testing,” Ariel sighed.

“We know all that, but what's its origin? Is it alien?” Colonel Mace asked, practically breathing on the Doctor as he peered over his other shoulder.

“No,” the Doctor sighed. “Decades ahead of its time,” he hummed. He narrowed his eyes at Colonel Mace and visibly winced. “Look, do you mind?” The Doctor snapped. “Could you stand back a bit?”

Colonel Mace took a single step back and frowned as he watched Ariel get closer to the Doctor than he had been and rather than being snapped at, the Doctor grinned up at her, wrapping an arm around her as he worked.

“Sorry,” Colonel Mace sighed. “Have I done something wrong?”

The Doctor looked up at him, his expression growing annoyed once again. Ariel noticed and tried to tap his shoulder, bringing him back to the device. She had grown used to him snapping at some people when they annoyed him every once in a while, but she could tell he was about to blow up at the Colonel and while she understood, she also knew they couldn’t afford to lose precious time and valuable relationships before they even had a good idea of what they were dealing with. 

The Doctor grabbed her hand, but Ariel was still concerned as he looked up at Colonel Mace.

“You’re carrying a gun,” the Doctor snapped. “I don’t like people with guns hanging around me, alright?”

Colonel Mace faltered, seemingly not expecting an answer like that to be thrown at him, but he eventually nodded in understanding. He took a deep breath. “If you insist,” Colonel mace muttered before heading outside. 

Martha turned to the pair and sighed softly as she crossed her arms, standing before them with a raised eyebrow. “Tetchy,” she remarked.

“Don’t look at me. I tried to stop him,” Ariel shrugged, heading to the computer off to the side.

The Doctor frowned at the women. “Well, it’s true,” he mumbled.

“He’s a good man,” Martha sighed.

“And there are better ways to tell people you don’t like them carrying guns,” Ariel retorted.

The Doctor took a deep breath. “People with guns are usually the enemy in my books,” he muttered. He looked up at Martha with a small frown. She seemed extremely comfortable in UNIT. It looked like she had grown used to everything there. It was almost alarming. “You seem quite at home,” he remarked.

“If anyone got me used to fighting, it’s you,” Martha told him with a raised eyebrow.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he turned his attention back to the ATMOS device. “Oh right, so it’s my fault,” he mumbled.

“Well, you got me the job,” Martha sighed. “Besides, look at me. Am I carrying a gun?” She asked, gesturing to her person. 

“Suppose not,” the Doctor murmured.

“It's all right for you. You can just come and go, but some of us have got to stay behind. So I've got to work from the inside, and by staying inside, maybe I stand a chance of making them better,” Martha smiled and Ariel looked back, grinning at her.

“That’s really incredible of you,” Ariel remarked and Martha smiled sweetly at her.

“That’s more like Martha Jones,” the Doctor nodded, beaming at the pair of them.

“I learned from the best,” Martha shrugged.

“Well,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel’s posture fell. She knew he didn’t exactly believe he was the best or a worthy instructor. She walked back over to him and wrapped him in a hug. He grinned and hugged her tightly.

She knew sometimes he enjoyed the silent comfort better than people rambling on to him about what a good man he was. After all, she preferred the same at times. It was easier just to take comfort in a meaningful hug rather than tune out whatever people tried and failed to convince you of.

Just then, Donna entered and Ariel pulled away from the Doctor, sitting by his side as Donna held up a folder with a confident grin.

“Oi, you lot. All your storm troopers and your sonics. You're rubbish. Should've come with me,” Donna grinned.

“Why, where have you been?” The Doctor wondered and Ariel nodded, silently expressing her equal interest.

“Personnel. That's where the weird stuff's happening, in the paperwork. Because I spent years working as a temp, I can find my way round an office blindfold, and the first thing I noticed is an empty file,” she told them, holding up the file.

“Why, what’s inside it?”  The Doctor asked. “Or, what’s not inside it?” He shrugged.

Donna flashed the label at them. ‘Staff Sick Days’. “Sick days. There aren't any. Hundreds of people working here and no one's sick. Not one hangover, man flu, sneaky little shopping trip, nothing. Not ever. They don't get ill,” Donna shrugged.

“Hundreds of people never getting ill,” Ariel hummed with wide eyes. “That’s a bit horrifying.”

“That can’t be right,” Colonel Mace snapped, snatching the file from Donna’s hands and flipping it open.

“Oh, he’s back,” Ariel sighed.

“Yeah,” the Doctor moaned, spinning around and hopping off the table. 

“You've been checking out the building. Should've been checking out the workforce,” Donna informed them with a smirk.

“I can see why he likes you,” Martha nodded. “You’re good.”

“Super temp,” Donna beamed.

“Here to save us all,” Ariel grinned, making Donna chuckle.

“Doctor Jones, set up a medical post,” Colonel Mace instructed, handing her the empty folder. “Start examining the workers. I'll get them sent through.”

Martha nodded and starting heading out, only turning momentarily to cast a worried look at Donna.

“Come on, Donna,” Martha called. “Give me a hand?”

Donna shrugged and followed her while the Doctor pulled off his glasses, grabbed Ariel’s hand and ran out after Colonel Mace.

“So this, this ATMOS thing. Where'd it come from?” The Doctor wondered. He handed the ATMOS device he was carrying off to Ariel who took the time to inspect it closely.

“Luke Rattigan, himself,” Colonel Mace sighed.

“And himself would be?” The Doctor frowned.

“Luke Rattigan?” Ariel prompted and both men nodded. “Well, I know him. I used to get letters from him in the mail back in my old place in Winchester. Granted, he started sending the letters right when mum planned to move to Edinburgh so there wasn’t really much I could do,” she shrugged. 

“He was sending you letters?” The Doctor frowned. “What for?”

“Must’ve been for his Academy,” Colonel Mace proposed, guiding them outside and into the mobile HQ.

“He has an Academy?” The Doctor said. “Just who is this Luke Rattigan?”

Colonel Mace had one of his workers pull up computer files on Luke Rattigan, showing everything there was to know about him as well as a picture by his side.

“Child genius. Invented the Fountain Six search engine when he was twelve years old. Millionaire overnight. Now runs the Rattigan Academy. A private school, educating students handpicked from all over the world,” Colonel Mace explained.

“Yeah, that was it,” Ariel nodded. “He tried to get me for that about a month ago, around the same time a bunch of uni’s were lining up. Mum said it was a good thing until she found out he wanted me to pack everything and leave immediately. Then, she wasn’t too keen on the idea,” Ariel smirked.

“He picks kids up from across the world and places them in his Academy. A hothouse for geniuses,” the Doctor sighed. “Wouldn’t mind going there,” he shrugged. “I get lonely.”

“Oi!” Ariel snapped, slapping him on the chest. 

“Sometimes I need more than just you,” the Doctor frowned. “What I wouldn’t give for a room full of people who think like me,” he sighed.

“We’re going to Rattigan Academy, aren’t we?” Ariel muttered.

“Just a quick trip,” the Doctor insisted. “Just to pop by and say hello,” he smiled.

Ariel rolled her eyes. She never could resist something that made him look so happy.

Meanwhile, in the personnel office of the ATMOS factory before Donna could leave and warn her mother about ATMOS, Martha stopped her.

“Donna. Do they know where you are? Your family. I mean, that you're travelling with the Doctor?” Martha asked.

“Not really,” Donna shrugged. “Although my granddad sort of waved us off. I didn't have time to explain.”

“You just left him behind?” Martha prompted.

“Yeah,” Donna sighed.

“Well, that’s all well and good if you haven’t got much to protect, but I can see it in you. You don’t want your family to get hurt. Ariel, on the other hand. I can tell she’s realized what it takes to be close to the Doctor. You can see it in the way she looks at him. She knows what she’d have to risk, but I didn’t,” Martha took a deep breath and met Donna’s concerned gaze. “I didn't tell my family. I kept it all so secret, and it almost destroyed them.”

“In what way?” Donna wondered. 

“They ended up imprisoned. They were tortured. My Mum, my Dad, my sister. It wasn't the Doctor's fault, but you need to be careful. Because you know the Doctor. He's wonderful, he's brilliant, but he's like fire. Stand too close and people get burnt,” Martha said.

~~~

“You are not coming with us!” The Doctor snapped at Colonel Mace and Ariel rubbed her forehead. She could already tell the trip was going to be filled with those two bickering like brothers. “We want to talk to this Luke Rattigan, not point a gun at him.”

“It's ten miles outside London. How are you going to get there?” Colonel Mace wondered.

“Well then, get us a jeep,” the Doctor said, nodding to the dozens of jeeps lined up outside the factory.

“According to the records you travel by Tardis,” Colonel Mace frowned.

“Yeah, but if there is a danger of hostile aliens, I think it's best to keep a super-duper time machine away from the front lines,” the Doctor said, glaring at Colonel Mace.

“That and he doesn’t know if he’ll wind up on the right date,” Ariel mumbled with a small chuckle.

“Oi, you hush!” The Doctor snapped.

“Yes, sir,” Ariel giggled.

“Oh, blimey,” the Doctor moaned, rubbing his head. “Walked right into that one,” he mumbled.

“I see. Then you do have weapons, but you choose to keep them hidden,” Colonel Mace snapped and Ariel rolled her eyes.

“Someone’s bitter,” Ariel remarked.

“Tell me about it,” the Doctor sighed.

“Jenkins?” Colonel Mace called.

“Sir?” A man with dark hair, light eyes and a strong build asked.

Ariel narrowed her eyes at the man. “It can’t be,” she breathed. “Ross?” 

The man’s eyes widened. “Ariel?”

“Oh, my God!” Ariel cried, running up to the man. “It’s you! It’s really you!” She exclaimed.

She ran into Ross’s arms and he laughed as he spun her around before placing her down on the ground, gently brushing some hair out of her eyes. 

“I can’t believe you’re here,” he frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I’m sort of here with,” she nodded to the Doctor and his eyes widened. 

“You’re here with the Doctor?!” He exclaimed. “How on Earth did that happen?! Last time we were together you barely wanted to go rock climbing because you said you would probably fall and you’re not one to take that sort of risk.”

“Oh, shut up,” Ariel grinned. “I actually met him by walking straight into the side of his Tardis,” she sighed.

“Right, so you really haven’t changed,” Ross smirked.

“Oi!” Ariel snapped, slapping him playfully on the arm.

“Jenkins, if you’re done with the reunion,” Colonel Mace sighed. 

“Right, sorry sir,” Ross said, standing up straighter as he looked at the Colonel.

“You will accompany the Doctor and Miss Parsons and take orders from either of them,” Colonel Mace instructed.

“Yeah, I don’t do orders,” the Doctor muttered.

“Any sign of trouble, get Jenkins to declare a Code Red. And good luck, sir,” Colonel Mace said before saluting the Doctor.

“I said no salutes,” the Doctor snapped.

“Now you’re giving the orders,” Colonel Mace hummed as he walked away.

“Oh, you’re getting a bit cheeky, you are,” the Doctor remarked.

“Bit more than that,” Ariel giggled before turning to Ross. 

Donna arrived and started talking to the Doctor while Ariel took the time to catch up with her old friend.

“I never thought you’d be one for UNIT,” Ariel frowned at Ross’s uniform. “You always acted like you wanted to fight in wars. Be apart of the Queen’s army and all that.”

“Colonel Mace recommended me,” Ross smiled. “Said I had a good eye and was loyal and apparently that’s all it takes to fight aliens trying to conquer the Earth,” he chuckled. “How about you? Travelling with the Doctor is a major step up from where I saw you last.”

“Yeah,” Ariel sighed. “About that.”

Ross frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“The Doctor and I, we went to Pompeii and we met these oracles. Except they were actual oracles. They knew about my dad, they knew about the bloke we ran over,” she rambled.

“Ariel,” Ross hissed, pulling her to the side and keeping a watchful eye on the Doctor. “I told you a thousand times. You didn’t do that.”

“And I told you, if I hadn’t been there, you would have avoided him,” Ariel retorted. “But that’s not my point,” she shook her head. “My point is, they said I would tell the Doctor everything on his dying day and I’m more concerned with that than whether or not I was the one that killed that man.”

“You weren’t,” Ross snapped. “It was an accident. The police said so themselves. Why are you so worried about the Doctor hearing?”

“Because I don’t want him to look at me differently,” Ariel sighed. “He looks at me like I’m some angel and I love it, but I’m so scared that’ll change when I tell him.”

“From what I’ve heard, the Doctor seems like a good man,” Ross said, looking back at the Doctor. “I’m sure he’ll understand,” he shrugged.

“It’s not just this I have to tell him about. It’s my dad too,” Ariel mumbled.

“Another thing that wasn’t your fault,” Ross nodded. “You’re carrying weight you don’t need to carry, Ari.”

“That’s not the point, Ross!” Ariel exclaimed. “It’s not the fact that those things happened. I’ve given up trying to work out if I’m to blame for it or not. I’ve given up on feeling guilty all the bloody time. Now, I just don’t want him to find out because I’ve seen how he works. He tries to preserve every single life possible. How’s he going to look at me when he finds out I’ve been at the center of two deaths? One of them being my own father.”

Ross sighed softly and smiled at Ariel. “He’s not going to hate you if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Ariel wondered.

“Because I saw the way he looked at you, and I saw the way he watched you when you ran up to me,” Ross said simply.

“Which was?” Ariel wondered.

Ross chuckled. “Ah, Ari, you’re still as oblivious as the day I asked you out,” he hummed. “He looks at you the way I used to look at you,” he smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, short chapter but one of her secrets was revealed. The only reason I put Ross at the center of this was it was perfect timing for the arc of the story and I believe he deserved a bigger part than what he got. He was one of those side characters that I thought would make a really good companion and I was so sad that didn't work out, so at least here he gets a bit of a bigger role.


	15. Ross Jenkins

“Ready when you are, sir,” Ross announced to the Doctor and Donna.

“Oh, don’t call him, sir,” Ariel told Ross. “He doesn’t like it,” she said, faking a pout as the Doctor headed toward her. 

“Now who’s the cheeky one,” the Doctor smirked and Ariel grinned as she rolled her eyes.

“Well, you can give me a lift,” Donna sighed.

“Lift?” Ariel frowned as she crawled into the jeep by Ross’s side. “Where are you headed?”

“Ah, I’m popping back home for a visit,” Donna sighed. “I reckon it’s time, don’t you?” 

“Yeah,” Ariel nodded with a soft smile. 

Donna crawled into the jeep by Ariel’s side and the Doctor was last in, sitting right by Donna as he slammed the door closed and Ross started up the jeep.

“It makes you feel a lot better if I’m honest. I mean, blimey, my mum is mad but it was nice to have some of that old familiar life back after feeling like you’ve dropped off the face of the Earth with that one,” Ariel laughed. 

“Oi, you could’ve gone home at any time you didn’t need my permission,” the Doctor snapped. 

“Yeah, but it’s not exactly easy is it?” Ariel said. “Going back to an old life in the midst of all that chaos,” she sighed, gesturing to the Doctor’s entire body.

“You just gestured to my whole body,” the Doctor frowned.

“Yep,” Ariel nodded with a small smile. “Exactly.”

Ross laughed. “You’re right. You haven’t changed a bit.”

Ariel giggled. “Except the fact that I’m travelling through all of time and space with an alien,” she shrugged. 

“Well, I’d like to think that was inside of you all along,” Ross sighed. “You always were the smartest girl in class. You knew when to take a risk and when to cut your losses.”

“I just never took any actual risks until him,” Ariel mumbled. 

“Because you never found one worth taking. While all the other kids did whatever the hell they wanted and didn’t think things through, you were more decisive. You knew what was best,” Ross nodded.

Ariel grinned. Ross had always managed to make her out better than she actually was. She had never deserved to be with a guy as good as him. 

Meanwhile, Donna turned to the Doctor with a curious frown. She couldn’t imagine he was happy watching Ariel get cozy with her old mate and she was right. She watched as he stared daggers into the dash of the car, his jaw clenched tightly. 

Donna turned to Ariel and narrowed her eyes at the young girl. The brunette seemed to be gazing up at Ross with some form of regret. She didn't look at him the way she looked at the Doctor. She looked at him as though she felt sorry for what she had done to him.

Donna cleared her throat. “So, how do you know him?” She asked, mostly on behalf of the Doctor who she felt straightening in his seat at the question.

“Well,” Ariel frowned.

“We were friends,” Ross shrugged. He didn’t want to stand in the way of Ariel’s future relationships. Though it had been hard for him to get over her, he didn’t want anybody thinking that they were getting back together anytime soon. That chapter was finished.

“Then we dated,” Ariel nodded with wide eyes. She didn’t want to keep anything from the Doctor. She knew one day she would have to tell him everything, but until that day came she didn’t want to have to add to the list. 

“But it’s been over for a while now,” Ross sighed.

“I left him,” Ariel said. “I didn’t really deserve someone as good as him,” she winced.

“Ariel,” Ross mumbled.

“No, it’s the truth. You tried to help me and I just shut you down. I didn’t deserve you and I still don’t. You deserve someone much better than me,” Ariel said.

“Technically, your mum played a hand in that,” Ross reminded her and she smiled softly.

“Oh, she was just doing what I asked her to,” Ariel sighed. “But you knew that.”

“So, you ended it with him, yeah?” Donna clarified.

“Yeah,” Ariel nodded, frowning as she realized how odd the clarification was. “Why?” She asked.

“Oh, no reason,” Donna shrugged, smiling softly as she felt the Doctor gain more energy and spirit.

“So, I’ve been a bit of an idiot,” Ross mumbled. “But where do you actually live?”

“Oh, it’s Rydale Street, but you can just drop me off at the junction,” Donna shrugged. “I reckon I’ll need a minute before I actually get inside,” she smirked.

“You’ll need more than a minute,” Ariel nodded. “I stood outside for about ten just staring at it wondering why it looked so different,” she giggled.

The Doctor grinned at Ariel. At first, he had been jealous as he watched Ariel cling so tightly to Ross, and watching them bond hadn’t exactly made it any better, but once he knew there was nothing going on between them, he was forced to face what he had been feeling.There was no denying the fact that he cared about Ariel and just maybe, he might be able to accept that he was moving on from Rose, but he kept getting a nagging concern that something terrible would happen to Ariel if they did anything.

The universe wouldn’t allow him to have something as good as her and not toss a catch onto it. However, maybe, he could talk to her about it. At the very least she deserved to know why he was holding back.

With a sigh, he concluded that if they both survived the ATMOS devices, then he would talk to her.

“Oh, did I tell you the Rattigan Academy tried to recruit me?” Ariel asked with a small smile. “My mum went half mad when she saw they wanted me to pack everything and leave immediately.”

“I can imagine,” Ross chuckled. “Your mum isn’t exactly the type to do what others try and force her to. I’m surprised she wound up getting a promotion when she thinks like that.”

“Apparently in journalism it’s good when you don’t listen to other people telling you what to do and what not to do,” Ariel shrugged.

Ross chuckled. “Then she definitely chose the right job,” he mumbled. He made a turn and Donna sat up. 

“You can stop here,” Donna breathed, her eyes wide as she stared at her street.

Ross frowned, not understanding what she was feeling, but stopped nonetheless and the Doctor moved so Donna could get out of the jeep.

“Good luck,” Ariel smiled.

“Thanks,” Donna nodded.

“You sure you’ll be alright?” The Doctor asked, frowning at the street.

Donna glanced back at the street behind her. Her home. “I'll walk the rest of the way,” she nodded. “I'll see you back at the factory, yeah?”

The Doctor tried to keep eye contact with her, but failed miserably when Ariel started turning up the radio and dancing wildly all over the car, giggling as she hugged the Doctor’s side and sang.

The Doctor grinned at her and turned back to Donna with wide eyes. “Bye!” He exclaimed. He slammed the door shut and Donna just chuckled as she watched them drive away, faintly seeing Ariel laughing with the two men as they left.

“You be careful!” She called, grinning as she turned onto her street.

As she headed down the street, Ariel turned the radio down and leant back with a sigh. “Oh, I missed this,” she mumbled. She frowned at the two men on either side of her. “I feel like I should introduce you properly. Doctor, this is Ross. Ross, the Doctor. You two would get along. You both have that sort of humor in the face of near death sort of thing going on.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Ah, you say that like it’s a bad thing,” he grinned.

“Believe me, I was more than grateful for it when we were chained to that pipe about to be killed by some Ood,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor laughed. “Or when you nearly mowed down half of Italy flying the Tardis.”

“I told you that only happened because it was my first time!” Ariel moaned.

“I met a monkey who flew it better on his first time,” the Doctor retorted. “Granted, he was a fairly intelligent monkey but he got me where I needed to be.”

“You’re such a liar,” Ariel sighed.

“No, really it’s true,” the Doctor insisted. “He yelled quite a bit during the flight.”

“I’m having another go at it,” Ariel said.

“Oh, don’t let her,” Ross smirked. “She’s a terrible driver. Her mum used to say that her driving was enough to scare anyone out of the car in seconds.”

“See?” The Doctor grinned, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Oi!” Ariel snapped, smacking both of them on the arm. “You’re both awful!”

Ross chuckled. “At least we can drive.”

“Oh, shut up!” Ariel moaned.

Ross sighed. He had missed messing with his best friend. He and Ariel had been friends for months before he had even considered asking her out and every second of it had been incredible. After the man on the bike died, they stopped hanging out. They stopped talking to each other and soon enough Ariel had cut him out of her life altogether. He never held it against her. He understood her reasoning, but it was nice to catch up with her like old times.

“Did you really get acceptance into the Rattigan Academy?” Ross frowned, looking back at Ariel who had started to reminisce with the Doctor about the planets he had brought her to in their first two weeks together and the question of whether or not they would ever go back. 

Ariel turned to him in confusion. “Yeah, why?”

As they neared the Rattigan Academy, Ross had tried to remember details he had learned in his debriefing files and the more he remembered, the less he could see Ariel ever fitting in in a place like that.

“UNIT's been watching Rattigan Academy for ages. It's all a bit Hitler Youth. Exercise at dawn and classes and special diets,” Ross explained.

“Blimey,” Ariel winced.

“Turn left,” the ATMOS device in the center of the car instructed and Ross did exactly that.

Ariel frowned at the device and turned only to see the Doctor giving it the same look but seeming much more wary of it.

“Erm, Ross?” Ariel prompted. Ross raised an eyebrow, keeping his eyes on the road, undoubtedly to ensure the ATMOS device was leading them were they were supposed to go.

“Ross, one question,” the Doctor sighed. “If UNIT think that ATMOS is dodgy-,” he began.

“How come we've got it in the jeeps? Yeah, tell me about it. They're fitted as standard on all government vehicles. We can't get rid of them till we can prove there's something wrong,” Ross said, clearly aggravated at the very idea. If they were inspecting something, they shouldn’t be trusting it in their cars.

“Turn right,” the ATMOS device instructed.

“Drives me around the bend,” Ross remarked as he turned a bend.

Ariel rolled her eyes and covered her face, moaning as she fell back in her seat. 

“Oh, nice one,” the Doctor nodded.

“Timed that perfectly,” Ross smiled.

“Yeah,” the Doctor said. “Yeah, you did.”

“That’s another thing the pair of you have in common,” Ariel sighed. “Terrible jokes.”

“Oi!” They both snapped simultaneously.

“This is your final destination,” the ATMOS device announced.

“But I love the pair of you for it,” Ariel grinned, jumping out of the jeep.

They walked through the front campus, watching as people in identical orange outfits ran across the grounds while a short man with dark hair stood watching over them conveying what Ross had pictured, Hitler Youth.

“Blimey, I wouldn’t have lasted a day in this place,” Ariel sighed.

“I told you,” Ross nodded. “It’s strange to think about let alone watch.”

The Doctor watched them run laps with wide eyes, marching up to Luke Rattigan himself.

“Is it PE?” The Doctor asked. “I wouldn't mind a kick around, I've got me daps on.”

Ariel snorted, covering her mouth as she watched Luke spin around and almost glare at the trio without even knowing a thing about them.

“I suppose you’re the Doctor?” Luke prompted.

“Hello,” the Doctor nodded, waving happily at him. 

“Your commanding officer phoned ahead,” Luke said.

“I haven’t got a commanding officer,” the Doctor shook his head. “Have you?” He mumbled and Luke’s eyes widened, his pupils dilating slightly at the very thought.

“And if he did he probably wouldn’t listen to a thing he said,” Ariel sighed. “Unless, he deemed it fit and necessary.”

The Doctor grinned and nodded, giving a small careless shrug and admitting his weakness. He didn’t trust many people in power just because he was supposed to. He liked to ensure for himself that they had earned it.

“Oh, this is Ariel Parsons, though from what I hear, you already know about her,” the Doctor said with a raised eyebrow.

Ariel stepped forward and shook Luke’s hand while Luke eyed her with a small frown.

“Yes, I remember. I tried to bring you here. Your GCSE results were astounding and I knew you’d do great here but you never responded to any of my letters. I try to phone your house but your mother responded and-,” Luke said and Ariel giggled.

“Yeah, sorry about that. My mum can be a bit of a nutter when we’re packing. I couldn’t come ‘cos we were moving and I had already been enrolled in another school and short story, a bunch of rubbish stood in the way,” she shrugged. “Not that I’d want to come here after seeing this,” Ariel mumbled.

“Right, and this is Ross,” the Doctor nodded after watching Ariel and Luke’s encounter with wide eyes. “Say hello, Ross,” he smiled.

Ross stepped forward and shook Luke’s hand. “Good afternoon, sir,” Ross nodded.

“Let's have a look, then,” the Doctor sighed, turning to the front doors of the Academy with wide, curious eyes. “I can smell genius!” He exclaimed. “In a good way,” he remarked when he saw Ariel’s raised eyebrow and amused grin.

Luke frowned at the strange man but took a deep breath and nodded. “Follow me,” he said, waving them inside.

He opened the door for the trio and they marched inside, heading straight to the Academy’s laboratory. 

When they entered, a large puff of fire blew out from one of the experiments and the Doctor grinned, seeming more elated than Ariel had seen him throughout their entire trip investigating ATMOS. She knew it was just because he was surrounded in the atmosphere he thrived in, surrounded by geeks in a science lab.

“Oh, now, that's clever. Look. Single molecule fabric, how thin is that?! You could pack a tent in a thimble. Ooo! Gravity simulators!” The Doctor exclaimed and Ariel grinned.

“He’s like a kid in a candy shop,” she sighed, smiling at him. She loved every second she got to watch him be happy and joyful. It was so much better than the alternative. She darted up to him and he laughed delightfully, holding up some equipment for her to see. She chuckled and he grabbed her hand as he continued to scour the lab.

“Terraforming, biospheres, nano-tech steel construction,” the Doctor listed. “This is brilliant,” he sighed, marching back over to Luke and tightening his hold on Ariel’s hand before speaking to him. “Do you know, with equipment like this you could, ooo, I don't know, move to another planet or something?” He proposed.

Luke seemed shaky, anxious, like he knew the Doctor was onto him but didn’t want to give him a single reason to confirm what he already knew was true.

“If only that was possible,” Luke murmured.

“If only that were possible,” the Doctor corrected, holding up a single finger. “Conditional clause.”

Ariel snorted as she watched Luke’s reaction. The poor boy appeared as though he might implode at the very idea of someone having the nerve to correct him.

“I think you’d better come with me,” Luke breathed.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Ariel. “What do you think?” He muttered, speaking close to her ear so Luke couldn’t listen to them.

“I think that someone needs to take that kid down a peg,” Ariel remarked. 

“Do you think anyone could be bossing him around? Using him like a puppet?” The Doctor wondered.

“Why, do you think that’s what’s going on?” Ariel asked.

“It’s certainly one theory,” the Doctor nodded.

“Well, he definitely has the personality for it. Any child genius like him would have to be closed off. He can’t have many friends, so if he found an alien race and they forced him to create ATMOS so they could take over, he might assume he’s getting something on their end. He may think he’ll get the opportunity to leave here and live with them. He’s got enough arrogance that he could allow himself to believe that he’s not just being used,” Ariel said.

“Very good,” the Doctor nodded. “It’s certainly a possibility. The only question is who would use some kid to get what they want?” He wondered.

They followed Luke into the recreation area where there was a swimming pool just beyond them and a large oval-shaped device with purple lights dancing across it in the corner. 

“You're smarter than the usual UNIT grunts, I'll give you that,” Luke remarked.

“He called you a grunt,” the Doctor muttered to Ross. “Don't call Ross a grunt. He's nice. We like Ross. Look at this place,” he sighed, spinning around the area, observing everything.

“What exactly do you want?” Luke wondered.

“I was just thinking. What a responsible kid,” the Doctor said. “Inventing zero carbon cars? Saving the world,” he nodded.

“Takes a man with a vision,” Luke shrugged. He was clearly anxious in the Doctor’s presence, but fought hard not to let it show.

“Mmm, blinkered vision. Because ATMOS means more people driving. More cars, more petrol. End result, the oil's going to run out faster than ever. The ATMOS system could make things worse,” the Doctor sighed.

“Yeah. Well, you see, that's a tautology. You can't say ATMOS system because it stands for Atmospheric Emissions System. So you're just saying Atmospheric Emissions System system. Do you see, Mister Conditional Clause?” Luke snapped.

Ariel almost laughed at the very sight of the man grasping for straws as he so desperately tried to be the smartest man in the room. That’s what she loved about the Doctor. He knew he was smarter but if someone one-upped him, he didn’t try to act like he was still smarter or knowingly showed off. If he ever did show off, he only did it when it made him happy not to try and prove anything. She loved that he didn’t care how others saw him or didn’t feel the need to prove himself. He was just happy as he was.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Ariel sighed, wincing at the sight of Luke trying to glare at the Doctor and failing tremendously.

Luke seemed to be taken down a peg at the sight of Ross and Ariel not congratulating him but looking at him like nothing more than a small annoying child.

“It's been a long time since anyone said no to you, isn't it?” The Doctor sighed and Ariel giggled. Luke seemed like nothing more than a small, spoiled child.

“I’m still right, though,” Luke shrugged.

Ariel rolled her eyes. The poor boy needed a friend in his life. Even just one. She could tell he probably grew up completely alone.

“Not easy, is it, being clever. You look at the world and you connect things, random things, and think, why can't anyone else see it? The rest of the world is so slow,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel smiled softly. She knew he was trying to relate himself to Luke and it was almost sad to consider. The Doctor spent his whole life being ahead of the curb and then being insulted for it. She could see it in the way others regarded him.

His other companions still treated him like a man who just rambled on and they had to wait for him to make sense before they could even react to him. They virtually tuned him out until he explained things in terms they could understand.

While Ariel didn’t always understand everything he said, she still listened completely because she could see the joy etched on his face every time he was allowed to just ramble on about new things that fascinated him. She loved seeing him happy and he completely deserved it.

She remembered the pain and heartbreak she had felt when she watched him talk about killing his people. It was awful. Ever since then, when she saw him happy it always made her feel a thousand times better. She preferred it over watching the devastation in his eyes from that night.

“Yeah,” Luke mumbled, agreeing with the Doctor’s pain over being the only one standing out against the rest of the world. They were all so slow and it was always so difficult to watch.

“And you’re all on your own,” the Doctor nodded.

“I know,” Luke said bitterly. 

“But not with this,” the Doctor said, pulling the ATMOS device out of his coat and tossing it to Ariel. “Because there's no way you invented this thing single handed. I mean, it might be Earth technology, but that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages,” he sighed. “No, no, I'll tell you what it's like,” he said, holding up a finger, coming up with a better analogy. “It's like finding this in the middle of someone's front room,” he said, running up to the large device in the corner and patting the side of it. “Albeit it's a very big front room,” he shrugged.

“Why, what is it?” Ross wondered.

“It just looks like some random thing,” Ariel shrugged. “I dunno. Like one of those things you find at the shop and you have no clue what it is but you think it’ll look pretty cool in your flat so you buy it.”

“Yeah, just looks like a thing, doesn't it?” The Doctor nodded. “People don't question things. They just say, oh, it's a thing.”

“Leave it alone!” Luke snapped.

“Oh, you just revealed that it’s a bit more than a thing, mate,” Ariel hummed, a large grin painted across her face. 

“Yeah,” the Doctor smiled. “See, me, I make connections,” he nodded, stepping inside the device. “And this, to me, looks like a teleport pod,” he said before slamming his hand down on the controls to his left and disappearing from sight.

“And he would be right,” Ariel smirked.

“Who was that man?!” Luke exclaimed. “Does he know what he’s done?!”

“Oh, I reckon he knows exactly what he’s done,” Ariel nodded a small smile dancing on her lips. “Now where exactly does that teleport lead?” She wondered.

“Straight onto their ship,” Luke breathed.

Ariel’s eyes widened, but before her concerns that the Doctor might be shot down could gain a voice, he appeared on the transmat and ran straight towards Ariel and Ross.

“Ariel, Ross, get out!” The Doctor cried. “Luke, you’ve got to come with me.”

“Fat chance,” Ariel scoffed. “I’m not leaving you,” Ariel said firmly, meeting the Doctor’s eyes.

He inhaled sharply but nodded. “Alright,” he mumbled

“I’m not leaving her!” Ross exclaimed.

“Oh, why do I always get the ones that never listen,” the Doctor moaned. He pulled out his screwdriver and tried to sonic the teleport, but before he could a short individual in full body armor covering every inch of the skin.

“Sontaran!” The Doctor exclaimed. “That's your name, isn't it? You're a Sontaran. How did I know that, hey? Fascinating isn't it? Isn't that worth keeping me alive?” The Doctor prompted.

“I order you to surrender in the name of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce!” Ross snapped, pointing his gun at the Sontaran.

“Ross,” Ariel muttered, placing her hand on his arm. She lowered it slowly, shaking her head. She knew guns weren’t how the Doctor worked. 

“It wouldn’t work anyway,” the Doctor shrugged. “Cordolaine signal, am I right? Copper excitation stopping the bullets,” he explained.

“Still,” Ariel said, silently reminding him through a raised eyebrow of his distaste for weapons and the fact that she wouldn’t allow him to hate Ross.

“Yeah, fair point,” the Doctor sighed.

Ross smirked at the pair of them. He remembered when he could communicate silently with Ariel. He could see blatantly that the Doctor and Ariel were closer than either of them believed.

“How do you know so much?” The Sontaran wondered.

“Well,” the Doctor smirked. He could ramble on for centuries about how he knew so much, answering the very open-ended question.

“Who is he?” The Sontaran asked Luke.

Luke seemed alarmed by the question and stumbled back onto his desk before actually answering. “He didn’t give his name,” Luke muttered.

“But this isn't typical Sontaran behaviour, is it?” The Doctor told him with a small smirk. “Hiding? Using teenagers, stopping bullets? A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity. Shame on you.”

“You dishonor me, sir,” the Sontaran said.

Ariel frowned. So, whoever this race was, they were very proud soldiers in battle. Fight with honor, die with honor.

“Yeah?” The Doctor prompted. “The show yourself.”

“I will look into my enemy’s eyes!” The Sontaran exclaimed. 

“Blimey, barely five minutes in and we’re already his enemies,” Ariel sighed. Usually, it took people at least ten to twenty minutes to declare him an enemy. 

The Sontaran removed his helmet and revealed beneath a small figure with dark skin and no hair. He seemed fairly old given the age lines stretched across his face. He sneered at the trio as the Doctor studied him.

“Oh, my God,” Ross breathed.

“I know right?!” Ariel exclaimed. “Why is he sneering at me? I’ve barely said two words to the guy!”

The Doctor turned to Ariel and gave her a quick smirk, always finding she granted him amusement in tense moments, before turning back to the Sontaran.

“And your name?” The Doctor prompted.

“General Staal, of the Tenth Sontaran Fleet. Staal the Undefeated,” Staal announced.

“Blimey, that’s a long one,” Ariel hummed.

“Oh, that's not a very good nickname,” the Doctor remarked with a frown. “What if you do get defeated? Staal the Not Quite So Undefeated Anymore But Never Mind?”

Ariel giggled and Staal just seemed to grow angrier. If that was even possible.

“He's like a potato. A baked potato. A talking baked potato,” Ross frowned.

“Oh, now that’s just rude,” Ariel sighed.

“Now, Ross, don't be rude,” the Doctor reprimanded and Ross sighed. They were like two parents trying to stop him from being mean to a classmate. “You look like a pink weasel to him,” the Doctor shrugged.

The Doctor marched around the recreation area and picked up a squash ball and racket, bouncing the squash ball around on the racket lazily. 

“The Sontarans are the finest soldiers in the galaxy, dedicated to a life of warfare. A clone race, grown in batches of millions with only one weakness,” the Doctor explained.

“Sontarans have no weakness!” Staal cried.

“No, it’s a good weakness,” the Doctor told him. He was like a kind adult trying to lift up a child’s confidence in their faults.

“Aren’t you meant to be clever?” Luke scoffed. “Only an idiot would provoke him.”

“Well, only an idiot would work for him and yet here we are,” Ariel sighed and Luke paled considerably. 

The Doctor snorted and held back laughter at Ariel’s remark, bringing his mind back to his explanation.

“The Sontarans are fed by a probic vent in the back of their neck. That's their weak spot. Which means, they always have to face their enemies in battle. Isn't that brilliant? They can never turn their backs,” the Doctor told them.

“That’s sort of horrifying,” Ariel mumbled.

“We stare into the face of death,” Staal said proudly. 

“Yeah? Well, stare at this!” The Doctor exclaimed. He hit the squash ball on the racket, bounced it off the back of the teleport and hit Staal right at his probic vent.

Staal fell forwards onto his face and the Doctor inhaled sharply, grabbing Ariel’s hand. “Run!” He cried. The trio ran out of the Academy, not stopping for a second to look back as they all bolted toward the jeep and Ross started the car immediately, speeding away from the school.


	16. The Poison Sky

“Greyhound Forty to Trap One. Repeat, can you hear me? Over,” the Doctor said through the comms unit on the car for the third time, still receiving no response.

“Right, now I’m scared,” Ariel mumbled.

“Why’s it not working?” Ross wondered.

“It must be the Sontarans,” the Doctor sighed. “If they can trace that, they can isolate the ATMOS.”

“Turn left,” the ATMOS instructed.

“Try going right” the Doctor suggested, narrowing his eyes at the device.

“It said left,” Ross frowned.

“I know,” the Doctor nodded. “So go right.”

Ross sent a small, confused glance at Ariel and she nodded with wide eyes, silently telling him to do as the Doctor said and go right.

He sighed and tried to turn the wheel right, but it turned left regardless. Ross pulled his hands off the wheel and found it drove itself even with him doing nothing.

“I’ve got no control,” Ross breathed. “It’s driving itself. It won’t stop.”

The Doctor jumped up and pulled his screwdriver out of his coat, trying to sonic the controls.

Ariel crawled over him and tried to pull at the doors, but they wouldn’t open. She turned to see Ross coming to that same conclusion on his side of the door.

“The doors are locked,” Ross mumbled.

“Ah, it’s deadlocked,” the Doctor sighed. “I can’t stop it.”

“Let me,” Ross said, pulling out his gun and smashing the screen of the ATMOS.

“Oh, that’s no use,” Ariel moaned.

“Turn left,” the ATMOS said.

“If it’s got control of the wheel smashing a little screen isn’t gonna do anything,” Ariel sighed.

“The sat-nav's just a box, wired through the whole car,” the Doctor explained, nodding in agreement with Ariel’s statement.

Ross looked up and his eyes widened as he saw them run over some bushes to reveal the river. “We’re headed for the river,” he breathed.

Ariel grabbed his gun and started using it to try and break the window while the Doctor tried to figure out how the ATMOS was working in order to kill all three of them.

“ATMOS, are you programmed to contradict my orders?” The Doctor asked.

“Confirmed,” ATMOS replied.

“Anything I say, you’ll ignore it?” The Doctor clarified, placing his hand on Ariel’s shoulder and gently pulling her from the window as he figured out a plan.

“Confirmed,” ATMOS repeated.

“Then drive into the river!” The Doctor cried. “I order you to drive into the river. Do it. Drive into the river!”

The ATMOS sped towards the river and Ariel winced, covering her eyes when, just before they could plunge into the river the ATMOS skidded to a stop at the very edge.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and they all scrambled out of the car as quickly as they could.

“Turn right. Left,” the ATMOS stammered.

“Get down!” The Doctor yelled.

The trio all fell to the ground on their stomachs and covered the back of their heads with their hands while the ATMOS continued to falter.

“Left, right, left, right, left, left, right, left, right.”

The sat-nav exploded with just a few sparks and a puff of smoke.

The Doctor turned over and peered at the ATMOS with a small frown. “Oh, was that it?” He moaned.

“That was a bit anticlimactic,” Ariel remarked.

“You’re telling me,” the Doctor muttered. “Well, then,” he sighed, standing up and helping Ariel to her feet. “We better get going.”

“Where can we go?” Ariel wondered. “We don’t have a car. All of them have ATMOS.”

“Why, the only place that’s safe of course,” the Doctor smiled. “Fancy a trip to Donna’s?”

Ariel grinned. “Oh, brilliant,” she sighed.

~~~

The Doctor and Ariel stood outside Donna Noble’s house as a red headed figure approached the door and swung it open.

Donna frowned at the pair and the Doctor just heaved a heavy sigh. “You would not believe the day we’re having,” the Doctor said.

Ariel gave a quick smile while the Doctor took a deep breath.

“We’re gonna have to see your family car,” the Doctor said. “I know where the ATMOS devices have come from.”

Donna nodded, casting a wary glance at the pair before closing the door and gesturing to the car parked on the curb. “Here we are then, what happened exactly?” She wondered.

“We sort of lost the car,” Ariel mumbled.

The Doctor nodded as he peered under the car and started inspecting the ATMOS device.

Donna chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Ah, of course you did,” she sighed. “I leave the pair of you alone for five minutes.”

“Oi!” Ariel exclaimed. “It’s not my fault. He’s the one who went through the teleport without knowing where it lead.”

“Well, it wasn’t as if Luke was going to tell me,” the Doctor sighed. “I needed to know.”

“And then didn’t sonic the teleport before the bloody Sontaran could see us,” Ariel continued.

“I slipped up!” The Doctor snapped. “It’s your fault for distracting me. I could’ve done it in two seconds but you started talking and I lost focus.”

“You should’ve sonicked it as soon as you walked out!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Oh, shut it the pair of you, you’re bickering like an old married couple,” Donna rolled her eyes.

“Donna, that actually reminds me. Can you phone Martha? We got no response back in the car and I need to let Colonel Mace know that it’s the Sontarans,” the Doctor said.

“Sontar-whats?!” Donna exclaimed. “And why can’t she use her mobile?” Donna asked, gesturing to Ariel.

“I never got Martha’s number,” Ariel shrugged.

“And I’m assuming she gave it to you when the pair of you were working together,” the Doctor added.

“Well, you’re lucky I asked,” Donna mumbled, pulling out her phone and dialling Martha.

“Let me know if you get a response,” the Doctor said. “Better yet, just hand me the phone so I can tell her exactly what to say to Colonel Mace.”

“Got it,” Donna nodded.

“We’ll be needing to get back to the UNIT base soon,” Ariel reminded him.

“I know,” the Doctor sighed. “If I could just figure out what the Sontarans are hiding in here now that I know what I’m looking for,” he mumbled.

“How are we gonna get there, though? Because I doubt Donna’s mum will be willing to lend us the car,” Ariel sighed. “No offense, Donna.”

“Oh, you’re not wrong,”  Donna muttered.

“I’ll requisition us a vehicle,” Ross said.

“Alright,” Ariel nodded. “Don’t get an ATMOS car, if one of those even still exists,” Ariel sighed.

“Yeah, anything without ATMOS,” the Doctor nodded. “And don’t point your gun at people!” The Doctor snapped.

Just as Ross left, an older man walked out of the house and his eyes widened at the sight of Ariel and the car bonnet popped open.

“Is it him? Is it him? Is it the Doctor?” He asked, marching over to the side of the car so he could get a better look while Ariel grinned. The Doctor was like a celebrity. Everyone just had to meet him. When the old man saw the Doctor, his eyes widened. “Ah, it's you!” He exclaimed.

Ariel and Donna exchanged a frown at the familiar expressions passing over the face of the old man and the Doctor.

“Who?” The Doctor breathed. “Oh, it’s you!”

“What, have you met before?” Donna asked.

“Yeah, Christmas Eve,” the man nodded. “He disappeared right in front of me.”

“You disappeared right in front of him?” Ariel frowned.

“Yeah, long story,” the Doctor sighed.

“Blimey, I’m looking forward to hearing that one,” Ariel hummed.

Donna’s eyes widened and she seemed frozen in utter shock. “What, and you never said?!” She exclaimed.

“Well, you never said,” the man retorted and Ariel chuckled. The sassiness runs in the family apparently. “Wilf, sir. Wilfred Mott. You must be one of them aliens,” Wilf said, holding out his hand to the Doctor, who shook it happily.

“Yeah, but don't shout it out,” the Doctor grinned with a small shrug. “Nice to meet you properly, Wilf.”

“Oh, an alien hand,” Wilf mumbled, staring down at the Doctor’s hand in his.

Ariel giggled. “I like him,” she nodded.

“Ah, and you must be Ariel,” Wilf sighed. “Donna’s told me all about you.”

“Oh, has she?” Ariel smiled, glancing back at Donna. “Well, that’s very sweet. Nice to meet you Wilf,” she said, shaking the man’s hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Wilf nodded.

The Doctor grinned at the exchange for a moment before turning back to Donna with a small frown. Martha should’ve answered them. “Donna, anything?” The Doctor prompted.

“She’s not answering,” Donna sighed. “What is it, Sontorans?”

“Sontarans,” the Doctor corrected her pronunciation. “But there's got to be more to it,” he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the device in the car.  “They can't be just remote controlling cars. That's not enough.” He turned to Donna with a sigh. “Is anyone answering?”

“Hold on,” Donna said, holding up a single finger. The Doctor jumped up and immediately held out his hand like a needy child. “Martha,” Donna breathed. “Hold on, he’s here,” she said before handing the phone over to the Doctor.

“Martha, tell Colonel Mace it's the Sontarans. They're in the file. Code Red, Sontarans. But if they're inside the factory tell them not to start shooting. UNIT will get massacred. I'll get back as soon as I can,” the Doctor told her frantically. “You got that?”

There was a pause and the Doctor nodded and hung up the phone, falling back to his knees as he investigated the device with his sonic.

“Right then, what are you hiding?” He hummed.

Ariel peered over his shoulder and frowned at the device. “Does it make any difference sonicing it out of the car rather than in?” She wondered.

“It shouldn’t,” the Doctor mumbled. “But if I know the Sontarans it just might,” he sighed.

“But you tried sonicing it before. You didn't find anything,” Donna reasoned.

“Yeah, but now I know it's Sontaran, I know what I'm looking for,” the Doctor replied coolly.

“Now, Miss Ariel, if I could ask you a quick question,” Wilf prompted.

“Of course,” Ariel frowned. “What is it?”

“Is, is it always like this?” Wilf asked. “Travelling with the Doctor, I mean. Is it always fighting off aliens and dangerous?”

“Yeah, but it’s for a good reason,” Ariel shrugged. “The Doctor has kinda shown me that if we don’t help, who will?”

“The thing is,” Wilf sighed. “Donna is my only grandchild. You got to promise me you're going to take care of her.”

“She sort of takes care of us,” Ariel smiled and Donna and the ginger grinned. “I remember when she kept me from falling about twenty stories into the middle of traffic. We owe her our lives.”

Wilf beamed in pride of his grandchild. “Oh yeah, that's my Donna,” he nodded. “Yeah, she was always bossing us round when she was tiny. The Little General we used to call her.”

“Oh, don’t start,” Donna sighed and Ariel giggled as she watched her friend be embarrassed by her grandfather.

“And some of the boys she used to turn up with. Different one every week. Here, who was that one with the nail varnish?” Wilf asked with a small frown as Ariel headed back over to the Doctor’s side and peered over his shoulder.

He immediately welcomed her presence by asking her to pass him stuff and spouting off small details he had uncovered about the ATMOS device.

Meanwhile, Donna and Wilf continued reminiscing.

“Matthew Richards,” Donna nodded. “He lives in Kilburn now. With a man,” she sighed softly.

All of a sudden, spikes burst out of the ATMOS device and the Doctor and Ariel both jumped up with wide eyes.

“Whoa!” The Doctor exclaimed, using his arm to push Ariel back, unconsciously trying to protect her from the small and virtually absent danger. “It's a temporal pocket,” he breathed. “I knew there was something else in there. It's hidden just a second out of sync with real time.”

“Bloody good hiding spot,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor sighed, nodding in agreement.

“But what’s it hiding?” Donna wondered, peering towards the car at the device but unwilling to step any closer.

Before the Doctor could answer, a blonde woman marched out to Donna’s side and Ariel nearly rolled her eyes. It seemed the whole Noble family was joining them while they were looking into a device that could kill millions.

“I don't know, men and their cars,” the woman sighed. “Sometimes I think if I was a car,” she smiled, but that grin quickly fell when she saw the Doctor peering at the car. “Oh, it's you. Doctor what was it?” She asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah, that’s me,” the Doctor waved.

“Can you bring the spikes back down?” Ariel asked.

“I’m trying to but it doesn’t seem to be working,” the Doctor hummed. “Even worse, I think the spikes triggered something inside.”

“What, have you met him as well?” Wilf frowned at the blonde woman.

“What else could be inside?” Ariel wondered.

“If I had to guess, I’d say it’s not anything good,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Dad, it's the man from the wedding,” the woman sighed. “When you were laid up with Spanish flu. I'm warning you, last time that man turned up it was a disaster.”

All of a sudden, the spikes started giving off some sort of strange gas. The Doctor and Ariel jumped up once more and the Doctor pushed Ariel even further away as she covered her mouth from the toxic fumes.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the device. There was a loud spark and the whirring of the poisonous gas being blown out stopped. The Doctor blew it away and gestured for Ariel to come closer, silently telling her it was safe.

“I told you. He's blown up the car!” The blonde woman exclaimed. “Who is he, anyway? What sort of doctor blows up cars?”

“Oh, not now, mum,” Donna sighed.

“Oh, should I make an appointment?” Donna’s mum snapped before heading back inside the house.

“That’s your mum?” Ariel prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Donna shrugged.

“Lovely,” Ariel remarked sarcastically.

“That wasn't just exhaust fumes, some sort of gas,” the Doctor frowned. “Artificial gas.”

“Poisonous?” Ariel guessed and the Doctor nodded.

“Easily kills any human,” the Doctor said.

“And it’s aliens, is it?” Wilf asked. “Aliens?”

“Yes,” Ariel nodded. “It’s aliens.”

Donna frowned at the small device. “But if it's poisonous, then they've got poisonous gas in every car on Earth,” Donna said and the Doctor stared at the cars littering the street with the label ‘ATMOS’ stamped across all of them.

“They’ve got millions of weapons all filled with gas ready to spread across the planet,” Ariel sighed.

Wilf stared at the trio and took a deep breath, pulling his keys out of his pocket. “It’s not safe,” Wilf said. “I’m going to get it off the street.” He got inside the car and almost immediately, the door locked behind him and started the engine by itself.

Donna inhaled sharply and bolted over to the window, slamming on it as her grandfather tried to open the door. “Hold on!” Donna cried. “Turn it off. Granddad, get out of there!”

“I can't!” Wilf exclaimed. “It's not locked!” He told her, holding up his keys as proof. “It's them aliens again!”

Ariel ran to the back of the car, seeing thick puff of smoke blowing up from it and her eyes widened as she spotted the same gas coming from the device pouring out of the exhaust pipe, but much thicker than before. “Doctor!” She called.

He bolted over to her side and his eyes widened as well as he saw.

“What’s he doing?” Donna’s mum asked. What’s he done?”

“They’ve activated it!” The Doctor exclaimed. The doctor spun around and saw gas pouring from hundreds of parked cars lining the streets.

“Doctor,  Ariel!” Donna called. “There’s gas inside the car!” She cried. “He’s going to choke!”

Ariel ran to her side while the Doctor bolted over to the front of the car to see if he could stop the connection.

Ariel pulled a hair pin from her pocket and tried to unlock the door.

“Doctor!” Donna yelled.

The Doctor cast an anxious glance at Ariel and Donna and Ariel looked at him with kind eyes, nodding quickly.

She knew he had just gone from investigating something to being overwhelmed with having to save the world in mere seconds and though they all understood Donna’s desperation, the screaming on top of that didn’t exactly help.

The Doctor sighed in relief as he saw Ariel’s understanding eyes and took a deep breath before tossing Ariel his sonic screwdriver and peering at the device.

Ariel used the sonic on the door, pressing the same buttons she had seen him press hundreds of times while Donna pulled on the handle, but it didn’t seem to work.

“It won’t open!” Ariel screamed. “They must’ve deadlocked the cars!” She cried.

The Doctor stared at the street flooding with gas slowly getting thicker by the second. “It’s the whole world,” the Doctor breathed.

“Help me,” Wilf groaned.

“Get something I can smash this with!” Ariel called to Donna. “Hurry!” She snapped and Donna stared at her with wide eyes before running up to the house and trying to find something.

Meanwhile, the Doctor pulled at all the connections tying the ATMOS device to the car, but gas still continued to flood the interior and pour out of the exhaust pipe.

“Get me out of here!” Wilf yelled.

Suddenly, Wilf collapsed in the seat. Ariel’s eyes widened and the Doctor froze at the sight.

He ran around to the back of the car and try to sonic the exhaust pipe.

“He’s going to choke!” Donna exclaimed, staring at her grandfather with wide eyes from the front of the house. “Doctor!”

“It won’t open!” The Doctor yelled.

Just when, Ariel was beginning to grow concerned that Wilf may not make it out, Donna’s mum marched out from the house toting a large axe.

“Ariel, was it?” Donna’s mum prompted.

Ariel nodded with wide, doe-like eyes.

“Make yourself useful,” Donna’s mum said and tossed her the axe.

Ariel grinned. Clearly, the woman had heard her screaming for something to smash the window with and had complied happily. Ariel closed the bonnet then lifted up the axe and smashed the windscreen as Wilf covered his face from the glass.

Donna and the Doctor stared at her with wide eyes as Ariel smirked.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Donna’s mum snapped at the trio. “Get him out!” She exclaimed.

Ariel tossed the axe back to Donna’s mum and the trio snapped into action, all scrambling to pull the old man out of the car.

Donna and her mother helped him back to the house and Ariel and the Doctor followed closely behind.

“Thanks,” Wilf sighed.

“I can’t believe you’ve got an axe,” Donna frowned at her mother.

“Burglars,” Donna’s mother shrugged and Ariel giggled.

“Get inside the house. Just try and close off the doors and windows,” the Doctor instructed.

“Yeah, get some packaging tape and tape towels to all the cracks in the doors and windows. Don’t let any of this air in,” Ariel told them.

Donna’s mum nodded, silently confirming that she heard their instructions and would do as they asked no matter how much she had complained about the Doctor earlier.

Behind them, Ross pulled up in a black cab and honked the horn at the Doctor and Ariel.

“Doctor! Ariel!” Ross called. “This is all I could find that hasn’t got ATMOS.”

“Took you long enough,” Ariel sighed, a grateful smile painted across her lips as she crawled into the passenger seat.

“Oi, don’t get cheeky,” Ross chuckled.

The Doctor grinned and headed to the back of the car, momentarily freezing and spinning back to Donna.

“Donna, you coming?” The Doctor prompted.

“Oh, please come,” Ariel said. “I can’t handle that one all on my own,” she smirked.

“Oh, you hush,” the Doctor smiled.

“Yeah,” Donna shrugged as though that were obvious.

Her mother’s eyes widened, flooded with horror as she realized her daughter felt a need to help the Doctor and Ariel over staying and comforting her family. “Donna. Don't go. Look what happens every time that Doctor appears. Stay with us, please,” her mother begged.

“You go, my darling!” Wilf called.

“Dad!” Donna’s mother snapped.

The Doctor crawled into the cab and held open the door for Donna who ran in right by his side.

“Don't listen to her,” Wilf said, waving his hand as if to silence his daughter. “You go with the Doctor. That's my girl,” he nodded, beaming at Donna as she closed the door. “Bye,” he waved and Donna waved back.

As they drove off, Ariel frowned as she thought to herself. She knew her mother didn’t have ATMOS. She never spent time or money on environmentally friendly techniques much to Ariel’s displeasure, but at that point it was a good thing. However, her mother could still be choked by the gas flooding the streets.

“Ross,” Ariel sighed. “When you drop us off as base, can you check on my mum? Either call her or stop by, her number is still the same. I just need to make sure she locked herself inside and puts towels on all the cracks.”

“No problem,” Ross shrugged.

“If she needs to hear it from me, just tell her to call me, yeah?” Ariel prompted.

“Got it,” Ross nodded.

“Thanks,” Ariel smiled.

They arrived at the base and the trio all climbed out, peering around at the contaminated air.

Ariel covered her nose and mouth with her hands, feeling extremely anxious about the gas getting anywhere into her system after what she saw happen to Wilf.

“Ross, look after yourself,” the Doctor advised. “As soon as you can, get inside.”

“Will do,” Ross nodded. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and announced the arrival of the trio. “Greyhound Forty to Trap One. I have just returned the Doctor to base safe and sound. Over.”

After he delivered the message, he turned the car around and sped off as the trio were allowed inside the gate.

“The air is disgusting,” Donna winced.

“It's not so bad for me,” the Doctor shrugged. “Go on, get inside the Tardis. Both of you,” he turned to Donna with wide eyes as he realized Ariel would have to let them into the Tardis if they were going to stay inside it. “Oh, I've never given you a key,” he sighed. He fished out a key from his coat and handed it to her. “Keep that. Go on, that's yours,” he grinned. “Quite a big moment really.”

“Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death,” Donna suggested.

“Good idea,” the Doctor nodded.

“I’m not going,” Ariel said, wincing as some of the gas entered her mouth.

“You have to. This isn’t exactly something I can protect you from right now. I can’t help it if some of the gas gets in your system,” the Doctor said, silently screaming to her that she had to leave because he didn’t want to risk watching her die as the gas slowly killed her. He couldn’t imagine watching that happen to someone he loved.

“Well, then, we’d better find a way to stop it shouldn’t we?” Ariel smirked. She would rather die than leave the man she cared about alone in the middle of all that chaos unraveling. More than ever, he needed someone by his side keeping him sane and helping him to not feel useless if he’s unable to come up with a solution to it. She wanted to be there for him because she especially knew what it was like to not have anyone there for you because you never said you needed them.

The Doctor sighed, silently feeling grateful for the company, but unwilling to give voice to those emotions just yet. “Where did you learn to get so stubborn?”

“I learned it from my mum,” Ariel grinned.

The Doctor smiled in spite of himself and grabbed her hand. “Right then, off we go!” He exclaimed.

“Where are you going?” Donna wondered.

The Doctor spun around, momentarily slowing down but never stopping as he grinned at Donna. “To stop a war,” he shrugged as though it were as easy as tying a shoe.

Donna nodded, sensing the tone of simplicity as well and started heading towards the Tardis while the Doctor tightened his grip on Ariel’s hand and bolted towards the base.

They got inside and the Doctor immediately jumped into action while Ariel knelt down, coughing as she tried to recover from the prolonged exposure to the gas.

“Right then, here I am!” The Doctor exclaimed. Just before he could start rambling off instructions to Colonel Mace, the sound of Ariel’s sharp coughs drew his attention. His eyes flooded with concern and his hearts pounded in his ears. “First things first, you haven’t got a hanky for Miss Parsons, have you?” He prompted

Colonel Mace immediately pulled a lime green handkerchief out of his uniform. “Of course,” he sighed and handed it to her.

She gave him a grateful nod and coughed into it.

“Good,” the Doctor nodded. “Now, whatever you do, Colonel Mace, do not engage the Sontarans in battle. There is nothing they like better than a war. Just leave this to Ariel and I,” he instructed.

“And what are you going to do?” Colonel Mace wondered.

“I've got the Tardis,” the Doctor shrugged. “I'm going to get on board their ship.”

He marched back to Ariel and grabbed her hand. “Do you actually have a plan after that or are you just improvising?” She wheezed.

“Oh, you know me, Ariel,” the Doctor grinned. “The best plans are made staring down the face of death,” he said ominously.

“Plus, it’s more fun that way,” Ariel shrugged.

“Yeah, that too,” the Doctor smiled.

“Er, Colonel Mace?” Ariel prompted, turning to the man and holding up the handkerchief. “Is it alright if I keep this?”

“Sure,” Colonel Mace shrugged.

“Thanks,” Ariel smiled before tying the hanky around her nose and mouth.

The Doctor nodded at the scene, grinning before he bolted over to the other side of the room where Martha was sitting. “Come on,” he mumbled, waving her forward.

She seemed to falter but nodded and got up to follow him.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and pulled her out as they left while Martha narrowed her eyes at the exchange.

They ran back to where the Tardis was supposed to be, but instead they found a vacant alleyway.

“What the hell?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“But where’s the Tardis?” Martha frowned.

“Taste that, in the air. Yuck. That sort of metal tang. Teleport exchange. It's the Sontarans. They've taken it. I'm stuck on Earth like, like an ordinary person. Like a human. How rubbish is that?”The Doctor sighed.

“Doctor,” Ariel said, raising an eyebrow. “Being rude again.”

“Sorry, no offence, but come on,” the Doctor moaned.

Ariel just chuckled and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t exactly argue. Compared to the life the Doctor lead, the everyday routine of an ordinary human was rubbish.

However, while Ariel was laughing with the Doctor, one thing was missing. Martha wasn’t shielding herself against the gas, she seemed to barely even notice it. She didn’t even blink an eye when the Doctor made his remark about humans.

The Doctor noticed and tapped Ariel’s shoulder, vaguely gesturing to Martha and widening his eyes, silently telling the brunette to keep an eye on the woman. Ariel nodded and Martha carried on speaking, completely unaware of the exchange.

“So what do we do?” Martha wondered.

“Well, I mean, it's shielded,” the Doctor shrugged. “They could never detect it,” he sighed. He turned and frowned at Martha silently trying to uncover something without saying a word.

“What?” Martha snapped.

Ariel’s eyes widened at Martha’s tone. While she hadn’t known the woman long, she knew enough to say that Martha never spoke to the Doctor with a tone like that. The Doctor himself even seemed surprised by it.

“I'm just wondering, have you phoned your family and Tom?” The Doctor asked.

“No,” Martha frowned. “What for?” She wondered.

Ariel’s eyes widened. She thought that would’ve been obvious.

“The gas,” the Doctor said, gesturing to the air around them as though he were talking to a toddler. “Tell them to stay inside.”

Martha scoffed and rolled her eyes, a faint grin appearing on her face as she seemed to realize. “Course I will, yeah,” Martha nodded. “But, what about Donna? I mean, where's she?” She clearly tried to ask naturally, but failed miserably.

The Doctor turned to Ariel with wide eyes, giving a small shake of his head to tell her not to negate the lie he was about to say. Ariel nodded.

“Oh, she's gone home,” the Doctor sighed, seeming much more natural in his lies than Martha. “She's not like you. She's not a soldier. Right. So. Avanti,” the Doctor announced, grabbing Ariel’s hand and running back to the base.

They allowed Martha to go in before them, acting as though they were going to follow her only to have the Doctor pull Ariel to the side last minute. Martha spun around with wide eyes, realizing she couldn’t follow them and make it seem natural. She took a shaky breath and returned to the car.

“So?” The Doctor prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s not Martha,” Ariel breathed, pulling the hanky off her face.

“I know,” the Doctor hummed. “The question is, where’s the real Martha and what do they need the fake one for?”

“If the Sontarans sent out a fake Martha, couldn’t it just be for information?” Ariel wondered.

“Could be, but that’s not really the Sontaran style,” the Doctor mumbled with a small frown.

“Neither is the gas,” Ariel reminded him.

“Fair point,” the Doctor nodded. “I dunno. It could just be to infiltrate UNIT, but that means we need to keep all vital information away from her, which means we can’t tell her where Donna is.”

“Obviously,” Ariel scoffed with a small shrug.

The Doctor grinned. He always loved when Ariel was ahead of him and he didn’t need to explain every little thing to her. It frustrated him when he had to spend time catching people up on his train of thought.

The Doctor took a deep breath and looked through the glass door into the base. “Right then, time to find out what this gas is and face the Sontarans,” the Doctor nodded.

He grabbed Ariel’s hand and they marched inside, the Doctor flinging the door against the wall as they did so.

“Change of plan,” the Doctor announced.

“Good to have you fighting alongside us, Doctor,” Colonel Mace smiled.

“I'm not fighting,” the Doctor shook his head. “I'm not-fighting, as in not hyphen fighting, got it?” He prompted.

“Makes sense,” Ariel nodded with a soft smile while the rest of the room seemed lost after the Doctor said he wasn’t fighting.

The Doctor grinned at her and nodded. “Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet?” He wondered.

“We’re working on it,” Not-Martha said.

“It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches eighty percent density. We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo City,” a blonde woman announced from her work station.

Ariel decided to take a seat beside Colonel Mace, who pulled up a chair for her, while she watched the Doctor run around the room and keep a steady eye on large screen on the wall displaying how far the gas had spread.

“And who are you?” The Doctor frowned.

The woman’s eyes widened and she stood up, firmly saluting the Doctor. “Captain Marion Price, sir.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the salute. “Oh, put your hand down,” the doctor snapped. “Don’t salute.”

“And drop the sir,” Ariel nodded. “No formal soldier treatment,” she advised. Captain Price seemed confused by the suggestion but nodded and took her seat once again.

Ariel had been slow to catch on, but eventually she understood why the Doctor didn’t like the formalities amongst soldiers. If he got that treatment, he would be reminded that he was a soldier, at least once, and that would force him to remember all the people he killed in the Time War. It was fair enough reasoning, but he obviously didn’t want to explain that to every soldier he met, so he just wound up seeming rude to all the soldiers. Ariel actually felt a twinge of regret at the fact that she hadn’t managed to see it earlier and she flashed an understanding smile at the Doctor, nodding at him to silently show that she would help him if he ever came across a salute again.

He grinned up at her. That was another thing the Doctor loved about Ariel. She understood him and certain issues he had without him having to openly complain about it or voice his uncomfort. He enjoyed having someone by his side that cared and understood. It was a happy change from the brutality of the universe and the loneliness of travelling without anyone by his side.

“Jodrell Bank's traced a signal, Doctor, coming from five thousand miles above the Earth,” Colonel Mace announced and displayed the signal on the screen. “We're guessing that's what triggered the cars.”

“The Sontaran ship,” the Doctor breathed.

“Why are they so far away?” Ariel frowned. “They love battle so much, I’d assume they’d get a bit closer than five thousand miles.”

“A very good point, Miss Parsons,” the Doctor remarked, flashing a quick smile up at her.

“Why, thank you,” Ariel grinned.

“Regardless, NATO has gone to Defcon One. We're preparing a strike,” Colonel Mace told them.

“Oh, no, don’t do that,” Ariel moaned, sinking back in her chair.

“You can't do that,” the Doctor shook his head, agreeing with Ariel. “Nuclear missiles won't even scratch the surface. Let me talk to the Sontarans,” he requested.

“You're not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth,” Colonel Mace frowned.

Ariel snorted. “Seriously?!” She exclaimed as the Doctor headed up to their level and pulled out his sonic. “ _He’s_ not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth? Are you kidding?!” He stuck his sonic into the communications system and grinned, placing a kiss on the top of Ariel’s head.

“I’ve got that authority,” the Doctor nodded to Colonel Mace. “I earned that a long time ago.” He sighed and stepped forward towards the screen. “Calling the Sontaran ship under Jurisdiction Two of the Intergalactic Rules of Engagement. This is the Doctor.”

There was a blip and then the transmission was intercepted and the Sontaran they had met at Rattigan Academy, General Staal, appeared on the screen.

“Doctor, breathing your last?” Staal prompted.

“Ah, the arrogance,” Ariel sighed in annoyance, leaning forward as the Doctor passed her chair, tapping her happily on the head as he walked by. She grinned at him while he took a seat just a level below her.

“My God, they’re like trolls,” Colonel Mace winced.

“Oh, hey now, that’s rude!” Ariel snapped. “Believe me, there are some worse looking creatures here on Earth. Have you ever taken a marine biology class? Some of the pictures in those books are strange enough to keep you up for weeks.”

“When have you taken a marine biology class?” The Doctor frowned.

“I used to go to the library on weekends during mum’s parties. I thought the covers of the textbooks looked cool and read them.”

“Huh,” the Doctor mumbled. “Loving the diplomacy by the way, thanks,” he said to Colonel Mace and Ariel snorted, covering her laughter only when she caught Colonel Mace glaring at her. “So, tell me, General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards?” The Doctor wondered.

“How dare you!” Staal roared.

“Oh, that’s diplomacy?” Colonel Mace scoffed.

“Hey, if it gets the job done,” Ariel shrugged. “It’s a means to an end.”

“Doctor, you impugn my honor,” Staal hissed.

“Yeah, I'm really glad you didn't say belittle, because then I'd have a field day,” the Doctor sighed. Ariel giggled. She loved when the Doctor eased the tension in the room while having a conversation that could in their death. It was one of the main reasons she found it so easy to keep travelling with him. He kept the atmosphere light-hearted and easy. “But poison gas? That's the weapon of a coward and you know it. Staal, you could blast this planet out of the sky and yet you're sitting up above watching it die. Where's the fight in that? Where's the honour?” The Doctor wondered. “Or are you lot planning something else, because this isn't normal Sontaran warfare. What are you lot up to?” The Doctor asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“A general would be unwise to reveal his strategy to the opposing forces,” Staal replied like a typical army man.

“Ah, the war's not going so well, then,” the Doctor sighed, a knowing smirk appearing on his lips. “Losing, are we?”

“Such a suggestion is impossible,” Staal scoffed.

“What war?” Colonel Mace wondered, asking the same question Ariel was about to.

“The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans. It's been raging, far out in the stars, for fifty thousand years,” the Doctor explained. “Fifty thousand years of bloodshed, and for what?” The Doctor asked loudly.

“For victory!” Staal cried. “Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!” The Sontarans started chanting and Ariel rolled her eyes, rubbing her temple.

It was extremely annoying to watch dozens of overwhelmingly arrogant aliens chant and act like they’re better than every other race they interact with.

“Give me a break,” the Doctor sighed. He pulled out his sonic and aimed it at the screen, changing the channel to a cartoon.

Ariel giggled, jumping up and heading down the steps to the Doctor’s side. “I used to always watch this as a kid.”

“Really?” The Doctor frowned. “I guess I always pegged you as a _Rainbow_ girl.”

“That too,” Ariel shrugged. “Honestly, mum just put on whatever would keep me quiet while she wrote.”

The Doctor chuckled while Colonel Mace glared at the pair.

“Doctor. I would seriously recommend that this dialogue is handled by official Earth representation,” Colonel Mace snapped.

“Oh, give it a rest. He’s much better than what you’ve got,” Ariel moaned and the Doctor grinned at her, winking quickly before turning the channel back to the Sontarans.

“Finished?” The Doctor prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“You will not be so quick to ridicule when you'll see our prize. Behold. We are the first Sontarans in history to capture a Tardis,” Staal said, moving to the side so they could see the Tardis.

Staal clearly thought it would unnerve the Doctor or have a greater effect than it did because all the Doctor did was shrug and let out a soft sigh. He already knew they had the Tardis, so what was the use in getting worked up over it?

“Well, as prizes go, that’s noble,” the Doctor nodded and Ariel grinned as she realized he was trying to speak to Donna, still trapped inside the Tardis. If they hadn’t gloated about the death of his companion, she was still alive. “As they say in Latin, Donna nobis pacem.”

“Grant us peace?” Ariel frowned, knowing full well what he meant but enjoying messing with him.

“Oh, hush,” the Doctor hissed, a large grin on his face telling her he wasn’t angry with her at all.

“Did you never wonder about its design? It's a phone box. It contains a phone. A telephonic device for communication. Sort of symbolic. Like, if only we could communicate, you and I,” the Doctor said, gesturing from his ear to the screen.

“All you have communicated is your distress, Doctor,”  Staal said and Ariel rolled his eyes. The Doctor hardly seemed distressed. A distressed man wouldn’t change the channel to cartoons halfway through the conversation.

Ariel thought he actually looked fairly confident as she stared at him with a small smirk.

“Big mistake though, showing it to me,” the Doctor sighed. “Because I’ve got remote control,” he grinned, holding up his sonic.

Staal’s eyes widened. “Cease transmission!” He yelled and the picture cut out.

“Ah, well,” the Doctor sighed, standing up and wrapping an arm around Ariel’s shoulders.

“That achieved nothing,” Colonel Mace snapped.

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” the Doctor smiled and Ariel just grinned at him.

She was so in love with the man before her. She just hoped he felt the same.

 


	17. I Lived

_ Ariel sat at the table alone, picking at her food as she listened to the other distant whispers over her shoulder. _

_ “I heard she eats alone because everyone who tried to eat with her was forced to watch as she started yelling about how much she wants a friend, eating with her mouth open. It’s gross.” _

_ “I heard the last friend she had left her because when they tried to go to a party, she showed up and started acting like a mum. She put a bib over them. She’s a freak.” _

_ “She craves attention so much, I heard she acts out her books and pretends she’s apart of them so she can have friends. It’s pathetic really.” _

_ “She’s such a sad weirdo. No wonder, nobody talks to her. I wouldn’t be caught dead even sitting next to her.” _

_ Ariel felt herself sink lower and lower into her seat as they continued. _

_ “I seriously believe the only people she talks to in this school are the teachers.” _

_ “That is when she’s not screaming at them that she knows the answer,” someone laughed. “It’s horrible. I heard Matty got hit in the eye because her hand shot up so fast that it hit him straight in the face.” _

_ “That’s why I would never sit next to her in classes. Have you seen how loud she yells out the answers? It’s deafening. I reckon the teachers are even starting to get sick of it.” _

_ “Who would blame them? I’d feel bad for her if she hadn’t turned away every friendship being so needy and annoying.” _

_ None of what they were saying was true. She was the polar opposite of what they had pegged her as, but as soon as they got an idea of her, there was no changing the mind of faceless voices. Their portrayal of you would stick throughout time.  _

_ Just when she was about to leave, unable to bare the voices harsh judgment much longer, she heard a tray clatter onto the table in front of her. _

_ She looked up and there was a young man with dark hair sitting there, silently eating his food. _

_ “What the hell are you doing?” Ariel frowned. _

_ “Er, eating?” He guessed with a mouthful of food, making Ariel wince. “What does it look like?” _

_ “You know what they’ll say about you if you sit with me. You might as well save your reputation now,” Ariel shrugged. _

_ She could hear the voices even then, watching, waiting with bated breath to see what the foreign man did next. _

_ “This is the only spot free, and I’m hungry,” the strange man said. “Besides, I don’t know what they’ll say about me. I just moved here from Manchester.” _

_ Ariel’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You’re new here?” _

_ “Yeah?” The man frowned. “Why is that a problem?” _

_ “No, but,” she glanced around with a sigh and leaned towards the man. “Do you really not care if everyone hates you?” _

_ “Why, do you hate me?” The man asked. _

_ “No,” Ariel shook her head.  _

_ “Then, not everybody hates me,” he shrugged. “Next issue.” _

_ Ariel smiled breathlessly. “What’s your name?” _

_ “Ross,” the man said, holding out a hand. “Ross Jenkins.” _

_ Ariel grinned wider than she had done for years. “I’m Ariel Parsons,” she said, shaking the man’s hand.  _

_ ~~~ _

_ Ariel and Ross sat in her room side by side. Neither had said a word for half an hour after their day at school. _

_ A group of girls had gathered around Ariel and picked on her every feature, occasionally hitting her just to watch her fall to the ground and laugh, until Ross stormed in and stopped them.  _

_ He picked Ariel up from the ground and comforted her. When the girls laughed at him for being friends with the psycho loner, he snapped that he’d rather be friends with her than people who would beat up a defenceless girl and laugh. _

_ “Did you mean it?” Ariel breathed. “Did you really mean that you’d rather be friends with me than any of them?” _

_ “Of course,” Ross smirked. “You deserve a friend. They made you think that you’re mad and don’t deserve friendship but they’re wrong. Everyone needs a friend.” _

_ “I guess I’m just not used to people actually giving a shit what happens to me.” _

_ “Well, I’ll help with that,” Ross grinned. “Now, let’s go to the cinema and maybe you can forget about getting your arse kicked today.” _

_ Ariel laughed as he helped her off the floor. “It wasn’t that bad!” She exclaimed.  _

_ “Oh, it was pretty bad,” Ross nodded. “You should’ve seen it from my point of view. But that doesn’t matter,” he shrugged. “Because we’re gonna go to the cinema and have lots of candy so you don’t have to worry.” _

_ Ariel grinned, grateful for the distraction from what had been repetitively playing back in her mind since that afternoon. She was about to follow him out when she remembered. It was Friday. Her mum would be having one of her famous parties. _

_ “Wait, Ross,” Ariel breathed. _

_ Ross froze and turned to her, raising a curious eyebrow.  _

_ “We’re friends right?” _

_ “Of course,” Ross shrugged. _

_ “Well, would it be too much to ask if I could stay at your place tonight? My mum throws these parties and it sort of makes it hard to sleep or even get a proper dinner with all of it.” _

_ Ross grinned at her. “That shouldn’t be a problem. My mum would love to meet you. She’s been irritating me about making new friends here.” _

_ Ariel smiled softly. She knew the feeling all too well. “Brilliant,” she nodded. _

_ ~~~ _

_ Four months later, the pair sat on the roof of Ross’s house, smoking a shared cigarette as they watched the sun set marking the last day of summer. The had spent the whole season together, working at the local cinema and planning trips together. It was the most fun Ariel had in a long time. _

_ “Are you ready to go back?” Ross asked, coughing slightly as he passed the cigarette to Ariel. _

_ “Not in the slightest,” Ariel sighed, taking a quick drag before passing it back to him. “But we have to,” she mumbled. “Sometimes I wish I could just fly off somewhere and not have to worry about all the stuff tying me here. I wish I could just escape like I do when I’m reading,” she sighed as she leant back on the roof. _

_ “I don’t want to escape,” Ross shook his head. “I want to stay right here,” he nodded. “I think maybe one day I wanna become a soldier. Help protect people.” _

_ Ariel nodded. “You’d be good at that. I can see you having one of those glorious deaths in battle like in the films. One that the whole crowd remembers and cries over later.” _

_ “I don’t care if it’s a memorable death,” Ross shook his head. “I just want to protect the world. If I die doing that then I’ll be happy.” _

_ “Ah, but you’d wanna get avenged wouldn’t you. The best deaths are the ones that are avenged.” _

_ “Yeah,” Ross chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it’d be pretty cool to have some avenge me. God, that sounds strange. I’m being avenged,” he laughed. _

_ Ariel giggled. “Your memory will live on, sir!” She exclaimed, saluting him. _

_ Ross grinned. “I don’t wanna leave this. I don’t wanna go back after this.” _

_ “At least we have something good to hold onto,” Ariel shrugged. “Before when I was all on my own, I tried to make myself ill just to stay home. I tried to physically force my body to be sick. At least now I have someone.” _

_ Ross nodded. “It’s always worse when you’re alone,” he sighed. He wrapped an arm around Ariel and she placed her head on his shoulder, blowing a small puff of smoke into his cheek as he winced. _

_ She giggled. “You should’ve seen that coming!” She laughed. _

_ “Oh, shut up,” Ross moaned, snatching the cigarette from her fingers. _

~~~

The Doctor and Ariel peered over Not-Martha’s shoulder at her clipboard, listing all the elements in the gas.

“There's carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, but ten percent unidentified. Some sort of artificial heavy element we can't trace. You ever seen anything like it?” Not-Martha asked, glancing at the pair of them.

“Nope,” Ariel shrugged. 

“It must be something the Sontarans invented. This isn't just poison. They need this gas for something else. What could that be?” The Doctor asked aimlessly, running his fingers through his hair.

Ariel cleared her throat and nodded him to the side. 

The Doctor nodded and followed her, getting as close to her as possible so Not-Martha couldn’t easily overhear. 

“Maybe, it’s something for the planet’s surface?” She guessed. “What if their planet is so battle-worn that they want to start anew?”

“Good idea, but I don’t think that’s it,” the Doctor hummed. “The Sontarans are staying away while the gas is out. That must mean something,” the Doctor muttered. “But I can’t work out what.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Ariel assured him with a nod. “One way or another we’ll work out what they’re planning,” she sighed. 

The Doctor smiled briefly at her, nodding along with what she said.

“Launch grid active and online,” Captain Price announced.

The Doctor and Ariel both turned with wide eyes at the map now on the screen for where nuclear weapons were being launched.

“Positions, ladies and gentlemen, Defcon One initiatives in progress,” Colonel Mace instructed.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Ariel exclaimed. 

“I told you not to launch!” The Doctor yelled. 

“The gas is at sixty percent density. Eighty percent and people start dying. We've got no choice,” Colonel Mace sighed. 

“Of course, you’ve got a choice!” Ariel insisted. “You’ve always got a choice, you’re just making the wrong one!”

“Well, then I’ll make it,” Colonel Mace snapped. “If it’s going to save these people’s lives I will.”

Ariel groaned. “What’s going to save your life is trusting the Doctor,” Ariel said. “I’ve learned that from travelling with him. You’re just finding a quicker way to get yourselves killed.”

“Launching in sixty, fifty nine, fifty eight, fifty seven, fifty six. Worldwide nuclear grid now coordinating. Fifty four, fifty three,” Captain Price announced.

“You're making a mistake, Colonel. For once, I hope the Sontarans are ahead of you,” the Doctor hummed.

“North America, online. United Kingdom, online. France, online. India, online. Pakistan, online. China, online. North Korea, online. All systems locked and coordinated. Launching in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,” Captain Price counted down.

Ariel shielded her face from watching the grid light up while the Doctor raked his fingers through his hair furiously as he watched the world slowly fall. Ariel peered at the Doctor and, noticing his distress, turned to him and wrapped her arms around him. He sighed softly and wrapped his arms around her.

“God, save us,” Colonel Mace breathed.

“Four, three, two, one.”

Ariel turned her head in the Doctor’s arms and noticed Not-Martha’s phone light up. She didn’t see much but she saw two buttons. Yes and No.

Not-Martha tapped no and a second after she did so, the launch grid faded to black.

“Zero,” Captain Price sighed, leaning back in her chair with a small frown as she stared at the black screen.

“What is it? What happened? Did we launch? Well, did we?” Colonel Mace asked furiously.

“Negative, sir,” Captain Price shook her head. “The launch codes have been wiped, sir. It must be the Sontarans.”

“Can we override it?” Colonel Mace asked.

“Trying it now, sir,” Captain Price replied.

Ariel looked up at the Doctor and nodded her head towards Not-Martha.  _ It’s her _ , she mouthed.

The Doctor raised his eyebrow. A silent question.  _ Are you sure? _

Ariel nodded firmly. 

The Doctor took a deep breath and slid over to her side. “Missiles wouldn't even dent that ship, so why are the Sontarans so keen to stop you? Any ideas?” The Doctor prompted.

“How should I know?” Not-Martha shrugged. 

It was only a few minutes later when Ross’s voice came through loud and clear in the comms unit.

“Enemy within. At arms. Greyhound Forty declaring Absolute emergency,” Ross said. “Sontarans within factory grounds. East corridor, grid six.”

“Absolute emergency. Declaring Code Red. All troops, Code Red,” Colonel Mace said.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and turned to Colonel Mace with wide eyes. “Get them out of there,” he breathed.

Colonel Mace stared at him, cold and hard for a single moment before addressing the troops. “All troops, open fire,” he instructed.

With those four words, Ariel’s heart stopped. 

“No,” she breathed. “No, you can’t do that, Ross is there!” She shrieked. “Doctor, tell them they can’t do that!”

Before he could even open his mouth, Ross spoke once again. “Guns aren't working. Inform all troops, standard weapons do not work.”

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed. “Ross! Get out of there! Ross!” Ariel screamed, her tone growing animalistic as she clawed against the Doctor, his arm being the only thing stopping her from attacking Colonel Mace.

They listened to loud screams as the troops died.

“I can’t get out now, Ari, they’ve got me surrounded,” Ross muttered into comms.

Tears started to form in Ariel’s eyes. Ross was her first friend in school. Her first boyfriend. While she listened to all the other kids whisper about how weird she was, Ross had been the one to sit with her in lunch. He walked her home and listen to her sob about how her mother made fun of her for having no friends, but all the kids made fun of her.

Ross had been there for her everyday for a year until she broke his heart, and now she was going to have to listen to him die.

“Tell the Doctor it's that cordolaine signal. He’s the only one who can stop them,” Ross breathed. 

Colonel Mace stared up at the Doctor with wide eyes, just then realizing that he should probably listen to what the Doctor had to say.

“And, Ari?” Ross prompted.

“Yes, Ross?” She sniffled. 

“I love you,” he smiled softly, watching as the Sontarans neared his hiding spot. “Do me a favor and tell my mum I died saving the world.”

Ariel smiled sadly, tears silently streaming down her face. “Just like you always wanted. You finally became a soldier to save her.”

“And you,” Ross nodded. “Tell the Doctor he’s bloody lucky to have you.”

“I love you, Ross,” Ariel sniffled.

Ross smiled and took a deep breath, stepping out from his hiding spot and in front of the Sontaran armies. 

He was shot down within seconds and his screams pierced Ariel’s ears through the comms unit before it failed and there was nothing left but static. 

Ariel shrieked, long and loudly, a wailing that filled the entire truck and told everyone. Her best friend was dead. She fell to the ground as tears streamed down her face and she rocked herself back and force, a stabbing pain crushing her in the gut.

The Doctor fell to the ground and wrapped his arms around Ariel as she breathlessly sobbed.

Everything inside of her felt like it was collapsing. Ariel couldn’t bear it. She felt like her heart was about to scream out of her chest.

“Greyhound Forty, report. Over. Greyhound Forty, report. Greyhound Forty, report,” Colonel Mace instructed, his face remaining stoic as he tried not to reveal the pain he felt at leading those men into a slaughter.

The Doctor looked up at Colonel Mace with his jaw clenched. Colonel Mace had put the woman he loved through that pain just so he could prove he was better than the Doctor. The Doctor wasn’t going to play along any longer. Colonel Mace would do as he said or he would relieve him of command.

“He wasn't Greyhound Forty. His name was Ross. Now listen to me, and get them out of there!” The Doctor roared.

“Trap One to all stations. Retreat. Order imperative. Immediate retreat,” Colonel Mace shouted into the comms.

Ariel squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force herself to stop thinking about Ross. There were dozens of men dying, but she couldn’t get memories of him out of her head. It all came flashing back to her when she least wanted it to. She didn’t want to think about him. She had left him alone for years and the second they find each other again, he died for her. 

She had never deserved a boyfriend like him, let alone a friend.

The Doctor worked with Colonel Mace on getting as many people as possible out of the factory. He wouldn’t let Ross die for nothing.

He looked down at Ariel and saw her hugging her knees to her chest with her eyes closed, desperately trying to block out the soldiers on comms. He sighed. She didn’t deserve to go through that. He saw how close she and Ross were. When they talked, they spoke like they knew everything about each other even after years of being apart. It broke his hearts to know he was gone and watch Ariel have to mourn him in the middle of a war. 

He sighed softly as he glanced around. He knew she wouldn’t be upset with him for not spending every second with her. He would console her when he could, but he had to make sure nobody wound up like Ross again. He knew she understood, but for further confirmation, Ariel looked up at him while he was watching her sadly and gave him a quick nod. 

“It’s okay,” she breathed, gulping harshly as tears flooded her eyes once again.

The Doctor gave her a sympathetic smile and glanced up, and spotted Not-Martha watching her with an almost confused frown, like she couldn’t understand what Ariel was feeling and was trying to work it out from just watching her. 

The Doctor smiled. Whatever it was that was taking Martha’s face had her memories, so he knew at the very least that she wouldn’t harm Ariel while she was mourning. It would ensure Ariel was in safe hands and not left on her own, which was all the Doctor wanted when he was being pulled in a hundred different directions.

“Oi, Martha!” The Doctor called. “Look after her, will you?” The Doctor requested.

Ariel looked up at him with a small frown and he gave her a quick nod. 

_ Trust me _ , he mouthed.

Ariel sighed shakily and nodded, giving him permission to send Martha over.

Not-Martha seemed extremely apprehensive about the task.

“Er, are you sure that’s best?” She asked.

“Course it is,” the Doctor shrugged. “You were always much better with this stuff than I was. Besides, you don’t have to say anything. She just needs someone there for her.”

Not-Martha hesitated but nodded and marched over to Ariel. She wrapped her arms around the young girl in the same way she had watched the Doctor do.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Ariel and the brunette nodded, assuring him that she was fine as she sighed and relaxed into Not-Martha’s arms.

She sniffled before slowly allowing silent tears to fall to her cheeks once again. 

“I should’ve done something more,” Ariel mumbled.

“Don’t be stupid,” Not-Martha frowned. “I watched you. What else would you have done?”

“I dunno,” Ariel shrugged. “I should’ve told him to leave the second I heard his voice on that comms.”

“He would’ve followed Colonel Mace’s orders first,” Not-Martha said simply, tone devoid of emotion.

Ariel sniffled and shook her head. “No, he would’ve listened to me. He would’ve listened to me above even the Doctor.”

“Why?” Not-Martha frowned. 

“Because,” Ariel sighed. “Because he was my best friend. Because I loved him and he loved me. Because we’ve known each other for years and he would trust me with this. I mean, blimey, he said it on the comms,” Ariel breathed, her eyes widening as she remembered everything he said. “His mum,” she muttered.

“What?” Not-Martha frowned. 

“His mum, I have to tell his mum,” Ariel jumped up, wiping her eyes and sniffling.

“But, standard protocol says a fellow UNIT officer will tell all relatives,” Not-Martha reminded her.

“Yeah, well I’m not exactly standard,” Ariel mumbled, darting over to Colonel Mace as he left his office. “Colonel Mace!” She exclaimed.

Colonel Mace’s eyes widened when he saw her and he straightened, saluting her. “Ma’am, I’m sorry for your loss,” he said. “Jenkins was a fine-.”

“Oh yeah, forget that for two seconds,” Ariel shook her head. 

“What is it with you lot and salutes?” Colonel Mace muttered.

“No, it’s not the bloody salute,” Ariel rolled her eyes. “I just need to know. Would it be possible for me to go to Ross’s family and tell them. I know you always have other UNIT people do it but I feel like Ross’s mum will take it better from me.”

“Well, it goes against protocol,” Colonel Mace frowned.

“Your protocol is what put the Doctor in charge and got my best friend killed so you wanna try that again?” She snapped.

Colonel Mace paled considerably and nodded. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

“Good,” Ariel sighed. “She deserves to hear it from a familiar face.”

Colonel Mace nodded sadly. 

“Is the Doctor back there?” Ariel asked, pointing to the office. 

“Yes, he’s on the phone with someone though,” Colonel Mace said.

“Oh, he’ll let me in,” Ariel shrugged. “He just doesn’t like people who kill those he likes,” she said, glaring at the Colonel before marching towards the office. 

Colonel Mace cast a mournful glance at the brunette as she headed into the office. He knew she was mourning and was truly angry at the loss of her best friend, but he did regret risking those men’s lives. He would take it back a thousand times if he could. He sighed softly and marched on through the corridor, knowing that he couldn’t let the deaths get under his skin. He had to ensure they didn’t die for nothing.

Meanwhile, Ariel opened the door as the Doctor was on the phone.

“I told you, I need-!” The Doctor was about to snap and froze when he saw Ariel smiling sadly. “Oh,” he sighed. He bolted up to her and wrapped his arms around him and she hugged him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut and begging her mind to believe that Ross wasn’t dead. “I’m sorry,” the Doctor mumbled. “I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Ariel shrugged, she kept her fists clenched, trying desperately to remain composed and fight alongside the Doctor. Ross wouldn’t want her crying over him. He’d want her to keep on fighting. He always used to joke about having his death rightfully avenged if he ever died in battle while he told her of his dreams about being a soldier.

“Will you be okay for now?” The Doctor asked, gazing down at her with genuine concern in his eyes. 

Ariel nodded. “He wouldn’t want me to sit around in the middle of a war moping over him,” she smiled sadly, fighting against the tears in her eyes. “In fact, if he were here he’d probably be upset that I’m making such a fuss when other people are dying.”

The Doctor smiled. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Ariel nodded.

“Right then, I’ve got Donna on right now. She’s still in the Tardis,” the doctor told her, placing the mobile on the table and putting it on speaker.

“Doctor, what is it?” Donna asked. “What’s going on?”

“Ariel’s in the office. Nothing else. It’s alright,” the Doctor assured her. 

“Oh, Ariel, I’m so sorry,” Donna sighed. 

“I’d rather not think about it right now,” Ariel mumbled.

“I get it,” Donna nodded. “So, what the hell am I supposed to do?” Donna asked the Doctor.

“I’m sorry, but you’ve got to go outside,” the Doctor sighed.

“But there’s Sonteruns out there,” Donna frowned.

“Sontarans. But they'll all be on battle stations right now. They don't exactly walk about having coffee. We’ll talk you through it,” the Doctor assured her.

“But what if they find me?” Donna asked.

“I know, and I wouldn't ask, but there's nothing else I can do. The whole planet is choking, Donna,” the Doctor told her.

“You can do this, Donna,” Ariel said. “You’re bloody brilliant, you are,” she smiled softly.

Donna grinned and took a deep breath. “What do you need me to do?”

The Doctor flashed a grateful smile at Ariel before jumping into action. “The Sontarans are inside the factory which means they've got a teleport link with the ship, but they'll have deadlocked it. I need you to reopen the link.”

“But I can’t even mend a fuse,” Donna reasoned.

“Donna, stop talking about yourself like that. You can do this. I promise,” the Doctor nodded and Ariel grinned at him.

“There’s a Sonterun,” she shook her head. “Sontaran,” she corrected herself.

“Did he see you?” The Doctor asked. 

“No, he’s got his back to me,” Donna said, and the Doctor and Ariel looked at each other with wide eyes.

“Right, Donna, listen. On the back of his neck on his collar there's a sort of plug, like a hole. The Probic vent. One blow to the Probic vent knocks them out,” the Doctor told her.

“But he’s going to kill me,” Donna gasped.

“I'm sorry. I swear I'm so sorry, but you've got to try,” the Doctor sighed.

“Donna, listen, you’re standing by the door right?” Ariel implored.

“Yeah,” Donna frowned. “What about it?”

“Well, if you look on the right sight of the console, right beneath all the controls, there’s a mallet the Doctor usually uses on the console because he can’t bother to admit when there’s something wrong with it,” she muttered, sending an annoyed glared at the Doctor who just grinned like a little kid. “If you hit the Sontaran on the back of his neck hard enough, you can get away without an issue.”

Donna nodded. “Okay,” she breathed into the phone.

The Doctor and Ariel couldn’t decipher much, but they heard a strangled scream echo through the phone’s speaker and both exchanged a frown.

“Back of the neck,” Donna grinned.

The Doctor and Ariel both beamed down at the phone. 

“Oh, fantastic!” The Doctor exclaimed. 

“Good job, Donna,” Ariel smiled. “I knew you could do it.”

“Oh, the pair of you shut up,” Donna sighed, silently feeling a great deal of pride at their words.

“Now then, you got to find the external junction feed to the teleport,” the Doctor instructed.

“What, what's it look like?” Donna stammered.

“A circular panel on the wall,” the Doctor said and Ariel frowned. 

“You’re gonna need to give her a bit more than that,” Ariel remarked.

The Doctor sighed, raking his fingers as she knew she was right and tried to come up with a good description of it so Donna would know what he was talking about.

“Big symbol on the front, like a, like a letter T with a horizontal line through it. Or, or, two Fs back to back,” the Doctor tried, messing up his hair madly.

Ariel stared at his hair with wide eyes. “Your hair looks amazing,” she mumbled.

The Doctor turned to her and his hearts seemed to both simultaneously stop. “Sorry?” He prompted. He wasn’t sure if he was just hearing and seeing what he wanted or if Ariel was genuinely staring at him the way he stared at her, but all he knew was his mind had turned to mush the second she said those four little words and openly stared at him the way he hoped she did.

Before he could get an answer out of her, Donna came back on the phone. “There’s a door,” she told them.

“Should be a switch by the side,” the Doctor nodded, not taking his eyes off of Ariel who smirked at him.

She wasn’t sure what had come over her, maybe, it was the fact that her best friend’s dying breaths were spent basically acknowledging that she and the Doctor were good together, but it also began to feel much more real after he died. She was suddenly very aware of her mortality and the fact that she could die at any moment and the Doctor, as oblivious as he was, would never realize how she felt about him. 

“Yeah there is. But it's Sontaran shaped, you need three fingers,” Donna told them.

Ariel almost screamed in frustration. She wanted to talk to the Doctor and while she loved Donna, she needed just a minute to tell him. 

The Doctor seemed equally as irritated and stepped away, not trusting himself to talk to Donna kindly.

“Donna,” Ariel sighed. “You’ve got three fingers.”

“Oh, yeah,” Donna breathed.

There was a whirring as the door opened and Donna came back on the phone moments later. “I’m through,” she hissed into the phone.

“Oh, you’re brilliant, you are,” Ariel smiled, keeping her eyes on the Doctor as she spoke.

“Shut up,” Donna smirked. “Right,” she nodded. “T with a line through it.”

The Doctor peered out the window of the office and groaned when he saw Colonel Mace returning.

He signalled to Ariel to wrap it up.

“Alright, Donna, we’ve gotta go but I’ll keep the line open so we can talk to you,” Ariel said.

“Okay,” Donna breathed.

Ariel followed the Doctor out just in time to hear Colonel Mace yelling at his soldiers. 

“-Counter attack!”Colonel Mace shouted.

“I said, you don’t stand a chance!” The Doctor cried.

“And trying cost Ross his life but sure let’s risk more lives,” Ariel said, staring at the Colonel with wide eyes. 

Colonel Mace just clenched his jaw. “Positions,” he instructed. “That means everyone,” he nodded before tossing a gas mask to each of them.

“Oh, great,” Ariel sighed. She handed the phone to the Doctor. “I kept the line open in case she gets into trouble,” she mumbled to him, keeping an eye on Not-Martha who was marching up behind them. “Not-Martha,” she warned before marching off, desperately trying to work out how to get the gas mask on.

The Doctor nodded and put the phone in his coat pocket before turning to Not-Martha.

“You’re not going without me,” Not-Martha snapped. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” the Doctor grinned. “Come on, then,” he waved to her as he pulled the gas mask on. “You’re gonna need a gas mask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Ross, okay. There are just a bunch of secondhand Doctor Who characters that are so great but get like no screen time or cheap deaths and it makes me so upset, so yeah, I lengthened his death just a bit.


	18. The Defeat of the Sontarans

The Doctor, Ariel, Colonel Mace and Not-Martha all stood outside in a row as Colonel Mace demonstrated their new weaponry.

“Latest firing stock. What do you think, Doctor?” Colonel Mace asked.

The Doctor just turned to him with a small smirk. “Are you my mummy?” The Doctor asked.

Ariel giggled. There had been a few nights when he told her about previous trips with other companions or by himself, and she had heard all about gas-mask child and Captain Jack. 

Colonel Mace was far less amused and simply rolled his eyes. “If you could concentrate,” Colonel Mace sighed. “Bullets with a rad-steel coating. No copper surface. Should overcome the cordolaine signal.”

“You just can’t stop finding different ways to try and kill them can you?” Ariel snapped.

“The Sontarans have got lasers!” The Doctor exclaimed. “You can't even see in this fog. The night vision doesn't work.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Thank you for your lack of faith. But this time, I'm not listening,” Colonel Mace said.

“Didn’t listen when Ross died either, but alright,” Ariel mumbled bitterly.

Colonel Mace tossed off his gas mask and pulled on his hat, standing in front of all of the troops.

“Attention, all troops. The Sontarans might think of us as primitive, as does every passing species with an axe to grind. They make a mockery of our weapons, our soldiers, our ideals. But no more. From this point on, it stops. From this point on, the people of Earth fight back, and we show them. We show the warriors of Sontar what the human race can do. Trap One to Hawk Major. Go, go, go!” Colonel Mace cried.

Suddenly there was a massive overdraft blowing the gas away. Everyone ducked at what sounded like a massive fan right above them, but slowly stood back up when they saw there was no threat.

The Doctor frowned and narrowed his eyes up at the source while Colonel Mace grinned victoriously at the sight of the gas around them thinning.

“It's working. The area's clearing. Engines to maximum,” Colonel Mace instructed.

The Doctor’s eyes widened as he realized what was clearing away the gas. “It’s the Valiant,” he breathed.

“That thing you were trapped on for a year?” Ariel frowned.

The Doctor simply nodded, his eyes fixated on the large ship.

“UNIT Carrier Ship Valiant reporting for duty, Doctor. With engines strong enough to clear away the fog,” Colonel Mace smirked arrogantly.

The Doctor took off his gas mask and seemed stunned at the fact that he was breathing in ordinary air. He nodded to Ariel to silently tell her the air was clear and when she took the gas mask off, she inhaled sharply in surprise.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel gasped, frowning at the gas mask in her hands.

“That’s brilliant,” the Doctor remarked, smirking down at his own gas mask.

“Getting a taste for it, Doctor?” Colonel Mace grinned knowingly and Ariel just rolled her eyes.

“No, not at all,” the Doctor assured him, shaking his head firmly. “Not me.”

Colonel Mace smirked and nodded, taking a breath before he issued his next command to the Valiant. “Valiant, fire at will,” he instructed.

Six green beams from the Valiant converged to form one that hit the ATMOS factory. Meanwhile, UNIT soldiers used rocket launchers to blast away the loading bay doors. It was the Sontaran's turn to be massacred.

Ariel grinned at the sight of it. Ross wanted to be avenged and he finally got what he wanted. She felt a bit more at ease with that knowledge. 

If he had to die, at least he died the way he wanted. On his terms. It didn’t make it easier to accept his death, but at least she could move forward knowing that his death wasn’t meaningless.

“I reckon we’ve avenged Jenkins, don’t you?” Colonel Mace smirked.

Ariel beamed at him and nodded, feeling tears sting her eyes, but rather than the sadness that had followed from earlier, she only felt pure joy.

Colonel Mace called the troops into the ATMOS factory and the Doctor, Ariel, and Not-Martha followed closely behind.

They marched through the corridors, Colonel Mace appeared more determined than ever as little by little they took back the factory.

“East and north secure,” Colonel Mace announced. “Doctor?” He prompted.

The Doctor ignored him and grabbed Ariel’s hand, guiding her and consequently Not-Martha down the opposite end of the corridor while Colonel Mace shrugged and guided his troops down the other end. 

The Doctor fished the phone out of his pocket and pressed it to his ear quickly, fully aware of Not-Martha’s presence. “Donna, hold on,” he breathed. “We’re coming.”

Not-Martha raced up to their side and he threw the phone back into his pocket. 

“Shouldn’t we follow the Colonel?” Martha frowned.

The Doctor shrugged and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, scanning the area and slowing his pace as he worked out where they might be keeping the real Martha. The original.

“Nah, you and me, Martha Jones. Just like old times,” the Doctor grinned. “‘Cept, now we’ve got a latecomer with us,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Oi, if it was my choice I wouldn’t have shown up so late,” Ariel smirked.

The Doctor chuckled and got a small blip on his sonic. “Ah, alien technology, this-a way,” he directed the women.

Ariel grinned and followed him happily while Not-Martha froze momentarily, frowning at her phone. She tapped it quickly and darted up to them.

They headed down to the basement and Ariel frowned at the vacancy of it. “It’s sort of creepy. No one down here,” she mumbled.

“Yep, no Sontarans down here,” the Doctor assured her. “They can’t resist a battle.”

They approached a door with light green lighting around the edges. 

“Oh, I don’t need a sonic to tell me there’s alien technology behind that door,” Ariel chuckled.

The Doctor chuckled and put away his sonic, holding open the door for her. “Here we go,” he said.

She flashed a quick smile at him and headed inside. 

They entered a large open room that looked a lot like a laboratory that had next to nothing inside of it. At the center of it all, Martha laid with a strange device wrapped around her head, most likely being used to access her memories.

“Oh, there she is!” Ariel exclaimed, running forward to Martha. 

“Oh, Martha, I'm so sorry,” the Doctor sighed, toying with the equipment around her and the device on her head. 

Ariel pressed her fingers to Martha’s neck. “She’s still got a heartbeat,” she nodded to the Doctor and he sighed with relief. “She’s a fighter this one,” Ariel smiled softly. 

“Yep, that’s Martha,” the Doctor nodded, grinning down at the woman.

Just then. There was a click behind the pair of them and they turned to see Not-Martha holding a gun up to them.

“Oh, please,” Ariel groaned.

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” The Doctor rolled his eyes.

“Wish you carried a gun now?” Not-Martha guessed.

“Not at all,” the Doctor sighed.

Ariel grinned at him. She would never cease to admire his persistent distaste for weapons.

“I've been stopping the nuclear launch all this time,” Not-Martha said arrogantly as if that was supposed to annoy them.

“Then you’ve been helping us,” Ariel smirked.

“Doing exactly what I wanted,” the Doctor nodded. “I needed to stop the missiles, just as much as the Sontarans. I'm not having Earth start an interstellar war. You're a triple agent.”

Not-Martha seemed to falter with those words and the gun wavered. “When did you know?” She asked. “Both of you.”

“About you?” The Doctor clarified and Not-Martha nodded. “Oh, right from the start. Reduced iris contraction, slight thinning of the hair follicles on the left temple. And, frankly, you smell,” the Doctor winced.

Not-Martha turned to Ariel and the brunette shrugged.

“It was the way you acted. It was the complete opposite of everything I saw from Martha. I listened to everything she said extremely closely because I wanted to know just who she was after the Doctor. I couldn’t really imagine a life after him so I had to know everything I could about her. It was clear the second you came around that something had drastically changed. Especially in the way you talked to him,” Ariel said, nodding to the Doctor. 

“You might as well have worn a T shirt saying clone,” the Doctor sighed. “Although, maybe not in front of Captain Jack,” he smirked and Ariel giggled. The clone inhaled sharply, her eyes widening as she remembered the face behind the name. “You remember him, don't you? Because you've got all her memories. That's why the Sontarans had to protect her, to keep you inside UNIT. Martha Jones is keeping you alive.”

The Doctor turned to the original Martha and ripped the device off her head. Both of the Martha’s cried out and the clone collapsed, dropping the gun to the ground as she clenched her chest. 

Ariel kicked the gun away and helped the Doctor remove Martha’s restraints as the woman desperately gasped for air.

“It's alright, it's alright, I'm here, I'm here. I've got you, I've got you,” the Doctor said, hugging Martha closely as she got her grip on reality once again.

“There was this thing, Doctor, this alien, with this head,” Martha rambled.

Just then, the mobile rang. “Oh!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Blimey, I’m busy,” he hummed, grabbing the phone out of his pocket. He glanced down at Martha with wary eyes. It seemed the day was just filled with him leaving people behind when they needed him most. He glanced at Ariel who was undoing Martha’s leg straps. “Got it?” He prompted.

Ariel nodded. “Go talk to Donna,” she said. He flashed a grateful smile at her and headed off to the teleport the Sontarans had in the laboratory to guide Donna.

Ariel helped Martha up and her eyes widened when she saw the clone, clinging to a pole and gasping for air. 

“Oh, my God. That’s me,” Martha breathed.

“Yep,” Ariel nodded. “That alien thing you saw was the Sontarans making a clone of you. She’s got all your memories and everything.”

“Blimey,” Martha mumbled. “Can I?” She asked, gesturing to the clone.

“Of course,” Ariel shrugged. “You don’t have to ask my permission for anything,” she giggled. “I think you’re actually older than me.”

“Force of habit, I guess,” Martha shrugged with a soft smile. “I’m so used to asking the Doctor’s permission with stuff like this. You just seem a lot like him.”

Ariel smiled. “I’m gonna take that as a compliment,” she nodded.

“Right,” Martha chuckled. 

Ariel helped her stand and though she stumbled, Martha managed to get a grip on Ariel’s shoulders and take a deep breath.

“You alright?” Ariel asked and Martha took steady breaths, nodding quickly.

“It’s a bit cold,” Martha mumbled.

“Hold on, I can help with that,” Ariel nodded. She allowed Martha to get comfortable leaning on the device she had been strapped to before running to the Doctor.

“Flick them up like a fuse box, and that should get the teleport working,” the Doctor instructed Donna as he sonicked the wires on the teleport.

Ariel knocked softly on the wall of the teleport and he grinned up at her.

“Can I borrow your coat?” She asked with a small smile.

“Yeah, sure, of course,” he shrugged. He pulling off his coat and tossed it to her.

“Thanks,” she grinned. “Hi, Donna!”  She called into the phone before running back to Martha. “Here,” Ariel sighed, handing her the coat.

“Is this the Doctor’s?” Martha frowned. 

“Yeah, he won’t mind,” Ariel shrugged. 

Martha seemed hesitant but nodded and pulled it on. “It’s a bit big,” she chuckled. 

“Ah, just button it up,” Ariel said. “That’s what I do,” she nodded. 

“You’ve worn his coat?” Martha prompted with a small smile.

“Yeah,” Ariel shrugged. “Why?” She frowned.

“Oh, nothing,” Martha shook her head, silently knowing that the Doctor definitely had deeper feelings for the brunette in front of her. “Can you help me-?” She asked, nodding to the clone version of herself still on the ground.

Ariel nodded and wrapped her arm around Martha’s shoulders, helping her walk after the Sontaran technology had weakened her. 

She placed the girl down by the clone’s side and Martha gave her a grateful nod before the brunette disappeared to go help the Doctor.

“Going alright?” Ariel prompted, peering into the teleport with a small smirk.

The Doctor grinned at the sight of her. “Should be,” he sighed. “Donna should get the teleport up and running and then I can bring her and the Tardis back down here.”

“And then what?” Ariel frowned, moving to sit by the Doctor’s side, crossing her legs like a little kid. “Are we going on the ship?”

The Doctor shook his head. “If they see Donna they’ll be on red alert.”

“Oh, right,” Ariel nodded. “Not exactly a good idea to board a Sontaran ship on red alert.”

“Exactly,” the Doctor said. “We’re going to Rattigan Academy.”

“Oh, great. We get to see Luke again,” Ariel sighed with a roll of her eyes. 

The Doctor chuckled. “He’s not that bad.”

“You just think that because you see the best in people. He’s extremely spoiled and an idiot if he thinks the Sontarans, a race bred for battle is gonna keep him around for anything but the ATMOS devices.”

“He’s a kid,” the Doctor shrugged. “He’s just a hopeful kid.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Ariel sighed. “I just don’t like arrogant people.”

“I get that,” the Doctor nodded. “But we may end up needing his help.”

“As long as he doesn’t try to tell me how he’s cleverer than me, I’ll be fine,” she smiled.

The Doctor chuckled but that smile quickly fell into a frown as he realized Ariel was with him and not with Martha. “Where’s Martha?” He asked.

“Oh, she’s talking to her clone,” Ariel sighed. 

“Perfect,” the Doctor grinned. “I need to find out what that gas is.”

“Oh, I completely forgot about that!” Ariel exclaimed. They both jumped up and ran over to Martha and her clone. 

“You love them,” the clone breathed.

“Yes. Remember that?” Martha smiled at her clone.

“The gas!” The Doctor yelled. “Tell us about the gas.”

“They’re the enemies!” The clone cried.

“Then tell me. It's not just poison, what's it for?” Martha wondered. “Martha, please,” she begged the clone.

The other Martha inhaled sharply, glancing at the Doctor and Ariel warily as the Doctor continued to multi-task and rewire the teleport with his sonic while he listened.

“Caesofine concentrate. It's one part of Bosteen, two parts Probic five,” the other Martha told them.

“Clone feed,” the Doctor breathed with wide eyes. “It’s clone feed!” He exclaimed, running back to the teleport.

“What’s clone feed?” Martha frowned.

“Is it how all the Sontarans look alike? They just do what they did to Martha and make clones?” Ariel guessed.

“Yes!” The Doctor cried. “It’s like amniotic fluid for Sontarans. That's why they're not invading. They're converting the atmosphere, changing the planet into a clone world. Earth becomes a great big hatchery. Because the Sontarans are clones, that's how they reproduce. Give them a planet this big, they'll create billions of new soldiers. The gas isn't poison, it's food.”

“So they want to turn everyone here into more Sontarans, I’m assuming for that war you said they’re losing?” Ariel said.

“Probably,” the Doctor nodded. “Which means we have to get this out of the sky, like now,” he muttered.

“Okay, but before we do all of this, Doctor,” Ariel breathed. “There’s something I need to tell you. I-,” she began.

“Doctor!” Donna hissed into the phone. 

The Doctor gave her a quick apologetic look and scrambled to the phone as Ariel sighed softly in annoyance.

“Blue switches done, but they’ve found me,” Donna said.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a wide eyed gaze and the Doctor jumped up, pulling Ariel to the side as he pointed his sonic at the teleport. 

“Now!” He exclaimed. 

The teleport lit up and Donna faded into view, frowning at her body before looking up and sighing in relief when she saw Ariel and the Doctor.

She smiled and ran up to the pair, hugging them tightly. “Have I ever told you how much I hate you?!” Donna exclaimed.

Ariel giggled and the Doctor pulled out of her grasp. “Hold on, hold on. Get off me, get off me. Got to bring the Tardis down,” the Doctor said. If the Sontarans had watched Donna transport, they would know to protect the Tardis with their lives or shut down the teleport. The Doctor had to save it before they had that chance.

Ariel just grinned and hugged Donna again.

When Donna pulled away, she looked down at the girl in sympathy. “About, Ross-,” she began.

“It’s alright,” Ariel shook her head. “I’m waiting to get to the Tardis to properly grieve, but for now I’m okay.”

Donna nodded with a soft smile. “Okay,” she sighed. “He loved you, you know. Not in that way, but you were everything to him.”

“I know,” Ariel nodded. “He told me right before he died. I loved him too.”

The Doctor brought the Tardis back down to Earth and stood up, wrapping Ariel in a tight hug. She sighed into the embrace.

He pulled away and gave her a warm smile. “You’ll be alright?” He said.

She nodded and he grinned. “Right, now,” he nodded. He grabbed her hand and called out to Martha who was sitting beside the dead clone, frowning at the phone. “Martha, you coming?”

“What about this nuclear launch thing?” Martha asked, holding up the phone. 

“Just keep pressing N,” the Doctor nodded. “We want to keep missiles on the ground.”

“It wouldn’t exactly bode well to have the Sontarans start a war against us right when we’re trying to get them to leave,” Ariel sighed.

Donna frowned, peering at the double Marthas, seeming to count multiple times as though she were simply seeing things. “There’s two of them,” she breathed.

“Yeah, long story,” the Doctor sighed.

“Not one we have time for,” Ariel nodded.

“Here we go. The old team, back together. 

“Not really,” Ariel frowned, glancing at Donna and Martha.

“Well, the new team,” the Doctor shrugged, unperturbed.

The women just grinned at each other and stepped into the teleport. The Doctor pulled out his sonic once again and Donna’s eyes widened.

“We’re not going back on that ship!” Donna cried.

“Oh, no, we wouldn’t go on the ship while they’re on red alert,” Ariel assured her with a shake of her head.

“No, no, no. No,” the Doctor shook his head. “I needed to get the teleport working so that we could get to,” he sonicked the controls and they all disappeared from the clone laboratory and reappeared in Rattigan Academy. “Here. The Rattigan Academy,” he announced. “Owned by-.”

Luke appeared in front of them, shakily pointing a gun at them.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Ariel sighed, rolling her eyes at the man.

“Don't tell anyone what I did,”  Luke begged. “It wasn't my fault, the Sontarans lied to me, they-.”

The Doctor pulled Ariel along and snatched the gun out of Luke’s grasp, tossing it to her. She tossed it to the ground and he took a deep breath.

“If I see one more gun,” the Doctor murmured.

“Just for the record, Luke, while I get that it isn’t totally your fault. I’m still blaming you for trying to threaten us,” Ariel told him.

“Wha-where are you going?!” Luke called. “What are you doing?”

“Stopping the gas,” the Doctor said. “What does it look like?!”

“How do you plan to do that?” Luke wondered, following them into the Academy Laboratory.

“The only way possible,” the Doctor sighed. “We need to set fire to the gas.”

“Oh, I get it! The fire’ll burn out the bad stuff, like when you boil contaminated water. It burns all the germs,” Ariel nodded as the Doctor started gathering equipment to build a device that could actually do that.

The Doctor nodded as Martha and Donna entered the room. “That's why the Sontarans had to stop the missiles. They were holding back. Because caesofine gas is volatile, that's why they had to use you to stop the nuclear attack. Ground to air engagement could spark off the whole thing,” he explained.

“What, like set fire to the atmosphere?” Martha frowned.

Ariel started helping the Doctor build the device, holding up equipment which he would either nod or shake his head at. If he nodded, she added it to the device for him. 

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed. “No, not that one,” he said to Ariel. “They need all the gas intact to breed their clone army.”

“So, they were keeping all the stuff that could set fire to that very gas locked away from us. Stopping the missile launch so it didn’t ruin their plans,” Ariel simplified.

“And all the time we had Luke here in his dream factory. Planning a little trip, were we?” The Doctor smirked, peering at the equipment Luke had laid out.

“They promised me a new world,” Luke mumbled.

“Ah, of course they did,” Ariel sighed. “Lonely kid, dying for an escape from a world that hates him. Promise them the stars and they’d do anything to get to it,” Ariel said. “Trust me, I know from experience,” she smiled softly at the Doctor.

“You were building equipment, ready to terraform El Mondo Luko so that humans could live there and breathe the air with this. An atmospheric converter,” the Doctor said, holding up the device he had built.

“El Mondo Luko,” Ariel frowned. “That’s a good name,” she smirked.

“Isn’t it?” The Doctor grinned. “Now, come on,” he sighed, grabbing her hand as he draped the cord to the atmospheric converter over his shoulders. “We haven’t got much time left.”

They all ran outside and the Doctor placed the atmospheric converter on the ground while Donna and Martha gaped at London in the distance. 

“That's London,” Donna breathed. “You can't even see it. My family's in there.”

“If I can get this on the right setting,” the Doctor mumbled, pressing his ear to the side of the device as he turned the knob.

“Doctor, hold on,” Martha said, holding out a hand. “You said the atmosphere would ignite,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”  The Doctor smirked, jumping up and taking a step back.

He grabbed Ariel’s hand and activated the atmospheric converter. It sent an energy pulse straight into the grungy clouds and it exploded. It was like a firework of actual fire, sounding off a loud blast before visibly sparking. The fireball rolled across the sky as the Doctor crossed his fingers, gripping tightly onto Ariel’s hand.

“Please, please, please, please, please, please, please,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Come on, come on, come on, come on,” Ariel breathed.

The flames raced across the world, consuming the gas without damaging any buildings, and leaving a clear blue sky behind. 

As soon as the sky was clear, the Doctor sighed softly in relief before jumping forward toward the atmospheric converter.

Ariel knew exactly what he was thinking. That wasn’t the end of their fight. The Sontarans wouldn’t give up so easily.

“He’s a genius,” Luke grinned.

“Just brilliant,” Martha sighed.

“Right, now we’re in trouble,” the Doctor groaned, picking up the device and running back into Rattigan Academy.

He darted all the way back to the teleport and twisted a few nobs before turning to the four of them with a sigh.

“Right. So, Donna, thank you for everything. Martha, you too. Oh, so many times. Ariel, you were brilliant. Really. Beyond compare,” the Doctor beamed. “Luke, do something clever with your life,” he advised.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Ariel exclaimed. “Don’t do this. Don’t say goodbye.”

“You’re saying goodbye?” Donna frowned.

“Sontarans are never defeated. They'll be getting ready for war. And, well, you know, I've recalibrated this for Sontaran air, so-,” the Doctor sighed.

“You’re going to ignite them,” Martha mumbled.

“You’ll kill yourself,” Donna breathed.

“Doctor, I’ve already lost someone I care about today. I don’t want to lose another,” Ariel said, shaking as tears began to form in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor said, his eyes showing they truly meant it when he looked down at her. Ariel choked back a sob as Donna wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tried to comfort her friend.

“Just send that thing up on it's own,” Martha suggested. “I don't know. Put it on a delay,” she shrugged, her voice growing weak at the thought of losing the Doctor.

“I can’t,” the Doctor shook his head simply.

“Why not?” Donna wondered.

“I’ve got to give them a choice,” the Doctor shrugged.

Ariel sniffled and wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath as she looked up at the Doctor. She couldn’t let him die would knowing. He hated himself so much and probably assumed they would all get on with their lives without him, but she had to tell him that she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

She marched up onto the teleport with him and he gazed down at her with wide eyes. There was a momentary silence. A single breath where all the emotions about to be thrown out seemed to pour into the space surrounding them.

Ariel stared into his warm brown eyes and smiled softly. He was beautiful in every sense of the word.

She wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him down, his cool breath caressing her lips before they connected, crashing into each other roughly trying to get in every single minute they had missed. She tried to force it, to silently scream that she needed him to stay. She needed him by her side, but soon enough, the kiss grew gentle, more tender and loving. She felt her heart soaring through her chest as he deepened the kiss and slowly devoured her. The taste of his lips were luxury.

It was like she was pouring all the things she never said out of her chest and into his. All the times she could’ve said ‘I love you’, but was too afraid of what might come to force the words out of her mouth.

She didn’t want to pull away. She wanted to stay with him. His lips against hers for the rest of time, but all too soon, he slid his arms away from her waist and pulled away, his forehead remaining on hers as he breathed deeply.

“I don’t wanna go,” the Doctor mumbled. His heavy breaths stained her cheek like an empty promise.

“Then don’t,” Ariel whispered, both knowing full well that he had to leave.

“You know I can’t,” the Doctor shook his head. He pulled away and brushed her hair back as she smiled softly at him, her eyes carrying the heavy weight of the losses surrounding her. He had never wanted to put that look in her eyes. The look he knew all too well as it had stared back at him in the mirror for centuries.

“Then let me go with you,” Ariel requested.

“I can’t,” the Doctor breathed. He gently guided her off the teleport and smiled at her as he held up his sonic. 

“I love you,” Ariel said softly, a confession she only wanted him to listen to.

“Quite right too,” the Doctor nodded. A sad grin etched across his lips. “And Ariel Parsons, I am so sorry,” he sighed before sonicking the controls and disappearing from sight.

Ariel fell to her knees, crying silently as Donna wrapped her arms around the young girl and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Ariel clung to Donna as though the ginger woman was all she had left. 

Luke watched the scene unfold with wide eyes and, taking a deep breath, he grabbed some tools from his desk and marching into the teleport, working on it so it would bring the Doctor back and put him in his place. He saw how much Ariel cared about the Doctor and the other women loved him as well. He knew that a man like that needed to live on while the world could continue with Luke dying a brave death to save them.

It was a good death for him to leave behind. If he had his say in ways to go, it was certainly one of the better ones.

Ariel looked up with wide eyes as she realized what was happening.

“No, Luke,” Ariel sighed. “The Doctor is doing this for us. You can’t do that.”

“Well, then just tell him I did this for him,” Luke replied simply.

“What are you doing?” Martha frowned.

Luke stood up and stared at the three women, taking a deep breath as he did so. “Something clever,” he told them, referencing back to the Doctor’s advice to do something clever with his life. He pressed the teleport and Ariel’s heart stop.

“No, he can’t do that!” Ariel yelled, jumping up and running into the teleport.

“What? What did he do?” Donna asked. 

“He just sacrificed himself to save the Doctor,” Ariel sighed. “God, he doesn’t deserve this,” Ariel breathed.

“Isn’t this a good thing?” Martha frowned. “He saved the Doctor.”

“Yeah, but he had to sacrifice himself to do it. In a perfect world. Nobody would be dead,” Ariel mumbled.

Right after she said that, the teleport whirred and the Doctor fell onto the teleport breathlessly.

“Doctor!” Ariel exclaimed, running to his side and wrapping her arms around him.

He smiled softly and hugged her back, pressing a firm kiss to the top of her head. 

Martha grinned at the pair and sat in front of the Doctor, beaming up at him. 

Donna walked over to his right side and slapped him roughly on the arm making him frown up at her as he rubbed Ariel’s back in comfort while she clung to his suit.

Donna fell to her knees and clung to the Doctor’s arm, silently begging him to never scare her like that again.


	19. The Domestic Life

Ariel stood at the front door of her house and took a deep breath before knocking. 

Within seconds, the door was swung open and the frantic face of Carol Parsons appeared.

“Oh, my God,” Carol gasped, pulling her daughter into a hug immediately. 

Ariel grinned and hugged her mother back just as tightly. 

Carol pulled away and grabbed her daughter’s hand, pulling her inside the house and kicking the door shut behind her.

“When Ross came by, my first thought was what happened to ya? Because you haven’t seen Ross for years and yet there he was telling me that you said I should cover all the cracks of the house,” Carol rambled. “I was concerned but I did it and then I turn on the tele and hear about those ATMOS things. So, I just need to know what the hell happened?!” She exclaimed, pulling her daughter to the sofa.

“There’s actually a lot I need to tell you, actually. I didn’t tell you the complete truth last time I was here, but I feel like I owe it to you,” Ariel sighed. 

“Well?” Carol prompted. “What is it?”

“Friday, after class I was walking home and I bumped into this thing. It appeared out of nowhere,” Ariel said with wide eyes.

“Oh, you always say that, love. The truth is half the time you’re fixated on your mobile and you don’t see what’s right in front of you,” Carol said.

“Okay, I would argue that but it’s sort of true,” Ariel mumbled.

Carol raised an eyebrow. “See?”

“Anyway,” Ariel sighed. “Remember that bloke I told you about? John Smith?”

“Yeah,” Carol nodded giddily. “Did you shag him?”

“Mum!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Alright, alright,” Carol sighed. “How about a snog? And a proper one, not those pathetic kisses Ross used to give ya that you called a snog.”

“Mum,” Ariel groaned, rubbing her forehead. “Yes,” she muttered.

“Ah, that’s my girl!” Carol exclaimed with a small laugh. “So, when am I going to meet this bloke?”

“That is not at all what I came here to tell you,” Ariel sighed.

“Right, sorry,” Carol nodded. “Carry on.”

“Okay,” Ariel said, taking a deep breath. “First off, his name isn’t John Smith. That’s just a name he goes by so people don’t question him. His real name is the Doctor?”

“The Doctor?” Carol frowned. “Doctor what?”

“Just the Doctor,” Ariel shook her head. “He chose it because he liked the idea of what it stood for. You know, a sort of healer.”

Carol nodded. “I can see that. It’ll get a lot of questions, but seems alright to me.”

“Right, well, here’s where it gets tricky,” Ariel sighed. “He’s not exactly human.”

“What?” Carol asked with wide eyes.

“Before you think I’m joshing you or he’s making this up, listen to me. His ship. It looks like a police phone box and it appeared right in front of me when I was walking home. He popped out and showed me the inside. Mum, it is so much bigger on the inside,” Ariel sighed.

“It’s a trick!” Carol exclaimed. “They do that with mirrors! Blimey, Ariel, I can’t believe you’ve gotten with a bloke who’s done this to you again.”

“Mum, I’ve walked through it!” Ariel yelled. “It’s not a trick and if I call him he can show you himself. It’s a time and space machine, mum. I’ve seen other planets in it,” she smiled.

Carol frowned at her daughter. She hadn’t seen the young girl that happy since she had dated Ross, and it wasn’t just the joy she faked to make Carol believe she was happy. It was authentic.

Carol sighed and moved closer to Ariel, grabbing her daughter’s hand and sighing softly. “If he makes you this happy, I suppose I’ll see him for myself.”

Ariel grinned. “Thank you, mum. I’ll give him a call.”

She pulled out her mobile and dialled the Tardis. 

Donna and Martha were still on board at the time. They had parked just a block from her house after going to see Ross’s mum to deliver the news. Ariel had wanted to check up on her mother and make sure she had followed Ross’s instructions. They had planned to drop by Donna’s house afterwards, then take Martha home then go off on their next trip.

However, before they could do all that, Ariel had warned all of them that she was going to tell her mother about the Doctor, so they might have to step in.

They all awaited her call anxiously and when she did, the Doctor jumped up and answered it automatically.

“Ariel?” The Doctor asked. 

“Yeah,” Ariel grinned. “She wants to meet you and to see the Tardis.”

The Doctor nodded, breathlessly smiling. “I’ll be right there,” he assured her before hanging up and starting the Tardis.

“What is it?” Donna asked. 

“She was right about her mum. She wants to see the Tardis,” the Doctor nodded.

“Maybe, I should tell my mum about all of this. I told my grandad, but I dunno,” Donna sighed.

“Best not,” Martha smiled. “I mean it’s good that you’ve told someone, but if I’m honest, I wouldn’t have told my mum about travelling with the Doctor either. Sure, I would’ve told my brother, my sister, my dad, all of them, but my mum-,” Martha sighed.

“No offense but your mum was a bit of a nightmare,” the Doctor nodded.

“None taken,” Martha shook her head. “She did hit you and try to have you tracked.”

Meanwhile, in the sitting room, Ariel was preparing her mother for meeting the Doctor.

“He looks young but he’s actually really old. You can sort of see it in his eyes. He also looks human,” Ariel said.

“Oh, good,” Carol sighed. “Because if this man is really an alien, I would go slightly mad at the fact that my daughter had snogged a man that looked like those aliens in films.”

Ariel giggled. “No, trust me. You always said Ross was attractive, well, wait till you see him,” she grinned. “He’s bloody gorgeous.”

All of a sudden, there was a faint wheezing sound, slowly going louder as the Tardis faded into view.

Carol stared at it as though she were seeing a ghost. She gripped her daughter’s hand tightly as the Tardis finally landed.

“What is it?” Carol breathed.

“It’s called the Tardis. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, and it’s the Doctor’s ship,” Ariel smiled.

She pulled her hand out of her mother’s just as the door opened and the Doctor beamed at his surroundings. “Ah, perfect landing!” He exclaimed. “Which wasn’t easy in such a tight spot, mind you,” the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow.

Ariel laughed and jumped into his arms and he chuckled as he lifted her off the ground, hugging her tightly. 

“Hey,” the Doctor laughed. “Good to see you too,” he sighed. 

He placed her back on the ground and extended his hand to Carol who was staring at them in utter shock.

“You must be Miss Parsons,” the Doctor said. “I’m the Doctor.”

“Carol,” Ariel’s mother breathed, holding out a shaky hand. “It’s true isn’t it? You’re an alien.”

“Well, don’t shout it out,” the Doctor chuckled. “But yeah.”

“She said it was bigger on the inside,” Carol mumbled.

“Would you like a peek?” The Doctor asked. “Mind you, we’ve gotta get going soon. Donna’s getting a bit antsy about her grandad.”

“That’s understandable considering he nearly choked to death,” Ariel sighed.

“Well, the whole world nearly did,” the Doctor shrugged. 

“Hold on,” Carol stepped back. “You-The pair of you stopped that?”

“Yeah, that’s what he does, mum,” Ariel grinned. “He travels across the universe and saves people from alien threats.”

“But he is an alien!” Carol exclaimed.

Ariel granted the Doctor a quick apologetic glance before turning to her mother. “He’s from a peaceful race called the Time Lords. They’re basically the reason time is the way we see it. They watch over it. We actually look like them,” she smiled. “The Doctor is the last of the Time Lords. There was this war and he was the only survivor. Now, he protects all of time and space and if we’re lucky enough, he sometimes brings people to travel with him, because quite frankly, that’s a dangerous and lonely job and it’s nice to have someone by your side, helping you.”

“It’s dangerous,” Carol frowned. “You of all people are actually taking risks?”

“Yeah,” Ariel giggled. “I’m like an outer space superhero,” she grinned and the Doctor smirked, nodding along with her.

“Your daughter is incredibly brave. She’s saved my life more than a few times,” the Doctor said.

Carol frowned. “This is my daughter you’re talking about?” She said.

Ariel laughed. “Yes, mum. I’m growing up,” she smiled.

Carol grinned at her daughter. “I can see that,” she nodded. “Well, come on then, let’s see this Tardis that’s bigger on the inside.”

The Doctor chuckled and opened the door for the women. “After you,” he said, waving them inside. 

Carol gasped sharply as she entered the Tardis, inhabited by two women grinning at her. “You were right,” Carol breathed.

“Oh, that’s a first,” Ariel remarked with wide eyes. 

“Oi, shut it, you,” Carol snapped, playfully smacking her daughter on the arm. “He really is an alien,” she frowned at the Doctor.

“That’s me,” the Doctor waved at Carol, wrapping an arm around Ariel.

Carol smiled at the pair and glanced up at the Tardis. 

“It’s a lot to take in, I know,” Martha chuckled. “First time I met him I refused to believe this was a time machine. He had to go back and play some cheap trick just to get me to believe,” she smiled.

“Oh, he never told me it was a time machine!” Donna exclaimed. “I was sat here thinking I couldn’t go back to my wedding when last minute he tells me that we can go back in time just not, apparently, to my wedding.”

“Oh, like you would’ve wanted to marry him anyway. I know you liked him and all but the way he treated you was just not right,” the Doctor shook his head.

“You got a point,” Donna shrugged.

“Who are they?” Carol frowned back at her daughter.

“Oh, my God, I’m sorry. I almost forgot!” Ariel exclaimed, running forward to the two women. “They’re both friends. This is Donna,” Ariel introduced, gesturing to the ginger woman who stepped forward and shook Carol’s hand. 

“Hi,” Donna smiled.

“Donna travels with us too. She’s a great friend. She’s saved my life a few times too,” Ariel nodded. “And this is Martha,” Ariel gestured to the dark-haired woman by her. “She used to travel with the Doctor but decided to leave and spend more time with her family. She’s engaged now.”

Martha chuckled and shook Carol’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Carol smiled at the three of them and turned to her daughter. “Can I talk to you for a minute outside?”

“Yeah,” Ariel nodded. “Donna, can you hold off seeing Wilf for a couple more minutes?”

“Sure,” Donna smiled.

As Carol and Ariel stepped out, the Doctor placed his hand gently on Ariel’s shoulders. “You alright?” He whispered in her ear.

Ariel grinned and nodded, giving him a quick kiss before stepping outside.

The Doctor closed the doors to give them their privacy while they talked.

“You’ve been hiding all this?” Carol breathed. “Travelling across time and space and saving people. Why?”

“I dunno,” Ariel shrugged. “I didn’t know how you’d react. I knew you’d be happy I have proper mates again so I decided to just tell you that.”

“But this,” Carol sighed. “This is brilliant. That Doctor bloke cares about you a lot and I can see it. But just tell me one thing, do you trust him?”

Ariel nodded firmly. “More than anything, mum,” she smiled.

“Good. I know it’s dangerous and while that still bloody terrifies me, but if you trust him with your life then I’ll take that. Are you happy?”

“More than anything, mum,” Ariel grinned. “The things I’ve seen,” she sighed. “You wouldn’t believe. I saw Pompeii, I saw the year five billion, I’ve seen alien planets. It’s so wonderful.”

“I’m happy for you, love,” Carol smiled, wrapping her daughter in a hug. “Now you go off travelling with the Doctor. Just be sure to pop by every once in a while. Don’t go off forgetting about me.”

Ariel giggled. “Never,” she assured her. “Thank you, mum.”

“You’re welcome, darling. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Ariel said, opening the door and stepping inside the Tardis. She sighed deeply and the Doctor walked up to her, hugging her tightly.

“You okay?” He murmured in her ear.

“Yeah,” Ariel nodded. She pulled away and took a deep breath. “I’m okay,” she smiled.

The Doctor grinned and nodded. “Okay, then let’s go. Next stop Case de Noble.”

“Oh, that sounds like some historic landmark,” Ariel remarked with a chuckle. 

“It does doesn’t it,” the Doctor frowned. “Ah, well something to remember for later, then,” he smirked at Donna and she rolled her eyes as he started up the Tardis.

Carol watched the Tardis dematerialize with a soft sigh. She knew the day would come when her daughter would find a man and leave the house, she just didn’t think it would be so soon, and she certainly didn’t think it would be with a time-travelling space alien. Regardless, she was happy for her. 

Every kid had to grow up one day.

He landed them and Donna peered out to make sure he landed in the right spot. She gave him a thumbs up. “Right then, I’ll be back in a mo,” Donna said before running outside.

“That’s three perfect landings in one day,” the Doctor smirked. “I’m on a role.”

“You should save that one for the record books,” Ariel chuckled and the Doctor looked like he seriously considered it. 

“It’s not everyday you get luck like this,” Martha nodded. “Let’s just hope it carries on long enough for me to get home.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Ariel asked as the Doctor wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Just one more trip.”

“No,” Martha sighed. “I don’t this is really me anymore. I’ve got a new life back there and I’m happy with it.”

“Well, I’m happy for you,” Ariel smiled. “You deserve it,” she nodded.

“Thanks,” Martha grinned. “And good luck to you, trying to take care of that one,” she said, nodding to the Doctor. “Y’know I couldn’t.”

“Oi!” The Doctor frowned. “I’m not that bad!” He exclaimed.

“Yes you are,” the girls said in unison with wide eyes. 

“That’s not fair!” The Doctor snapped. “Ganging up on me like that,” he muttered.

Ariel just laughed and shook her head. “Thanks,” she sighed, wrapping her arm around the Doctor’s waist and placing her head on his chest to listen to his hearts beat loudly.

A few minutes later, Donna walked into the Tardis with a soft sigh, wiping some stray tears from her cheek.

“You alright?” Ariel frowned, pulling her dead from the Doctor’s chest but never leaving his arms.

“Yeah,” Donna nodded. “I’m fine,” she assured her.

“How were they?” Martha asked. 

“Oh, same old stuff,” Donna shrugged. “They're fine. So, you going to come with us? We're not exactly short of space,” she smiled.

“I already tried that one,” Ariel laughed.

“Yeah,” Martha sighed. “I have missed all this, but, you know. I'm good here, back at home. And I'm better for having been away. Besides, someone needs me,” she grinned, tapping her ring. “Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now.”

Just then, the door slammed shut on its own and the time rotor activated, tossing everyone around wildly. 

“What? What?” The Doctor said with wide eyes, scrambling to get back to the console and read the Gallifreyan swirling around on it.

“What the hell is going on?!” Ariel exclaimed, grabbing onto the jumpseat as she rubbed the back of her head where she hit the metal floor.

“Doctor, don’t you dare!” Martha yelled, thinking the Doctor was trying to force her into another trip.

“No, no, no. I didn't touch anything. We're in flight. It's not me,” the Doctor said.

“Where are we going?” Donna asked.

“I don’t know!” The Doctor cried. “It’s out of control!”

“So, someone has control of the Tardis and taking us God knows where?” Ariel sighed. “Yeah, that sounds great,” she said sarcastically.

“Doctor, just listen to me. You take me home. Take me home right now!” Martha screamed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sorry! But at least I'm FINALLY done with that two parter


	20. The Doctor's Daughter

“What the hell’s it doing!” Donna cried as they all clung onto console desperately, not daring to let go.

“The control’s not working!” The Doctor yelled. He got thrown backwards and he grinned at the hand in the jar bubbling wildly during the fight. “I don't know where we're going, but my old hand's very excited about it,” he chuckled.

Donna’s eyes widened as she looked down at the hand in the jar. “I thought that was just some freaky alien thing. You telling me it’s yours?”

“Technically, that does mean it’s still a freaky alien thing,” Ariel grinned. “You just know which freaky alien the thing came from,” she giggled.

“Oi!” The Doctor laughed.

“It got cut off,” Martha explained quickly. “He grew a new one,” she shrugged. Both Martha and Ariel had clearly grown used to the strange circumstances surrounding the Doctor, but Donna wasn’t done being utterly astounded by him just yet.

“You are completely impossible,” Donna sighed.

“Well, he can’t be totally impossible seeing as he is right here,” Ariel said.

“Yeah, not impossible. Just unlikely,” he shrugged, grinning at the women.

There was a loud bang and they were all tossed forward into the console as sparks flew across the Tardis. They landed with a thud and the usual wheezing wasn’t heard, but they had landed all the same.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a glance, both silently communicating their sheer excitement and anxiety about what could possibly be awaiting them outside those doors.

“Shall we?” The Doctor prompted with a knowing smirk, holding out his hand to her.

“Gladly,” Ariel grinned.

He helped her up off the Tardis floor and they bolted outside into a tunnel entrance, flooded with random junk lining the dingy walls.

“Oh, that’s a bit anticlimactic,” Ariel pouted.

“Oh, now,” the Doctor hummed. “There’s character in everything. After all, the Tardis did bring us here,” he said. “Which raises the next question, why would the Tardis bring us here, then?”

“I dunno,” Ariel shrugged. “There don’t seem to be any signs of life,” she frowned, glancing around the tunnel.

“Oh, I love this bit,” Martha sighed.

“I thought you wanted to go home,” Donna reminded her with a small smirk.

“I know,” Martha nodded. “But all the same, it's that feeling you get,” she sighed, grinning at the Doctor and Ariel as they tried to work out where they were. “They are pretty alike aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Donna sighed. “It just makes me wonder what took them so bloody long to realize that for themselves,” she grinned.

Just then, the distant voice of a man who looked like a teeanger called out to the four of them. “Don't move!” He cried. “Stay where you are! Drop your weapons.”

Three men marched forward donning army colors and pointing rifles at them. They all raised their hands in immediate surrender.

“No weapons, mate,” Ariel shrugged. “So, you can lower yours.”

“We're unarmed. Look, no weapons. Never any weapons. We're safe,” the Doctor said, spinning around so they could get a good look at him.

“Look at their hands,” a soldier to the side of the one who had yelled at them muttered. “They’re clean.”

“Clean of what? If I can ask,” Ariel frowned.

“Alright, process them,” the soldier that had yelled at them instructed. “Him first,” he said, nodding to the Doctor.

The two soldiers on either sighed of the dark-haired shoulder marched up to the Doctor and grabbed him, shoving him forward.

“Oi, what the hell are you doing?!” Ariel snapped.

“Leave him alone!” Donna cried.

“Oi, oi, what’s wrong with clean hands?” The Doctor frowned.

“Take me first,” Ariel said. “Leave him alone!”

“What’s going on?” Martha asked with wide eyes.

The Doctor was taken to a metal machine with a large hole in the center. His right arm was shoved into it and his eyes widened at the strange feeling.

Ariel stared at him in horror and turned back to the soldier that seemed to be giving the orders. “What the hell are you doing to him?!”

“It’s nothing dangerous,” the man shook his head. “You have no need to worry. All it’ll leave him with is a scrape.”

“But what the hell is it?” Ariel breathed.

“Where are you lot from?” The man frowned.

“Oh, far off,” Ariel shrugged. “Really far off,” she mumbled as she watched the Doctor.

“Something tells me this isn't about to check my blood pressure. Argh!” The Doctor cried out in pain as the machine scraped his hand.

Ariel placed her hands over her mouth with wide eyes as she watched, frozen in shock.

“What are you doing to him?” Donna asked.

“Everyone gets processed,” the man shrugged. He glanced down at Ariel with a small frown. “Are you and him together?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Ariel nodded. “What about it?”

“I don’t think I’ve seen a proper couple in ages. Everyone’s always too busy with the war,” he sighed. “And even if they could, people usually get killed before anything can actually develop.”

“What war?” Ariel asked. “Against who?”

Before he could answer the Doctor cried out once again.

“It's taken a tissue sample!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. And extrapolated it. Some kind of accelerator?” He guessed.

Within a split second, the Doctor was released and Ariel darted up to him, pulling out his right arm and checking for wounds. The man was right. There was nothing but a small graze on the back of his hand.

“Are you alright?” Martha asked, running forward and checking his wound.

The Doctor just frowned at the small scrape, looking back at the machine and narrowing his eyes. “What on Earth?” The Doctor breathed. “That’s just-.”

Blue lights flashed behind a pair of glass and metal doors and a thin yet tall silhouette appeared out of virtually thin air.

The doors opened and the figure stepped out with a grin. It was a skinny blonde in combat boots and trousers with a khaki shirt.

Ariel giggled. “She looks a bit like you,” she nodded to the Doctor, but he just continued to stare at the blonde with wide eyes.

The male soldier stepped forward and handed a rifle to the blonde. “Arm yourself,” he instructed.

She nodded and accepted the rifle immediately.

“Where did she come from?” Martha frowned.

“From me,” the Doctor breathed.

“Wait,” Ariel said with wide eyes. “Are you serious, ‘cos I was just joking about that whole ‘she looks like you’ thing.”

“I’m serious,” the Doctor sighed.

“Wait, she came from you?” Donna frowned. “How?” She wondered. “Who is she?”

“Well, she's, well, she's my daughter,” the Doctor stammered.

The blonde woman flashed a grin at the Doctor. “Hello, Dad,” she said and Ariel’s heart seemed to stop beating.

“They made her from just a bit of your blood?” Ariel asked.

“Apparently,” the Doctor shrugged.

“You primed to take orders? Ready to fight?” The male soldier asked the Doctor’s daughter.

“Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocols, sir,” the blonde nodded. “Generation five thousand soldier primed and in peak physical health. Oh, I'm ready,” she grinned.

“Well, she sounds like you,” Ariel shrugged.

“Sorry, did you say daughter?” Donna shook her head, still not processing the event.

Ariel had long since learn to go with the punches when it came to the Doctor. Not much surprised her then.

“Mmm. Technically,” the Doctor nodded.

“Technically how?” Martha wondered, she seemed a bit frazzled, but like Ariel she was quickly accepting what was in front of her.

“Progenation. Reproduction from a single organism. Means one parent is biological mother and father. You take a sample of diploid cells, split them into haploids, then recombine them in a different arrangement and grow. Very quickly, apparently,” the Doctor shrugged with wide eyes.

“She’s the perfect fighting age,” Ariel mumbled, closely watching the interaction between the Doctor’s daughter and the other soldiers. “Hold on, did you just say you’re the mother?” She asked with a growing grin.

The Doctor stared down at her with wide eyes. “Oh, I’m gonna regret that, aren’t I?”

Ariel giggled. “I dunno,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “You’re the new mummy, you tell me.”

The Doctor chuckled and rolled his eyes. He pulled Ariel forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I know a pretty good way to get you to forget,” he mumbled.

He placed delicate fingers under her chin, lifting her lips up before capturing them and taking her breath away. She sighed into the kiss and ran her fingers through her hair. She didn’t think a day would come where she ever got tired of feeling his lips on her own. His lips were like the sweetest candy, she never got tired of tasting them.

“Something’s coming!” The blonde woman cried and Ariel pulled away from the Doctor with a heavy sigh.

“You’re right, that’s a pretty good way to keep me quiet,” Ariel breathed and the Doctor grinned.

The blonde woman had watched the interaction with a small but curious frown, if she survived the attack approaching, she would definitely need to find out more about the brunette kissing her father.

The Doctor, Ariel, Donna and Martha all ran forward at the approaching figures, they were just shadows on the wall as far as they could see, but as they came into view they looked like humanoid fish with small tanks around their mouths with some sort of green liquid bubbling inside of it. They all toted guns and started firing on the soldiers the second they spotted them.

“It’s the Hath!” The male soldier cried.

The three soldiers and the Doctor’s all started shooting at them immediately.

“Get down!” The Doctor’s daughter shouted to the four. She had seen her father’s connection and relationship with each of them and knew that they all deserved to be protected. None of them had weapons and all of them were important to her father.

The four of the took cover, ducking behind some of the rubbish in the tunnel. The Doctor wrapped his arm around Ariel, protecting her above even himself.

“We have to blow the tunnel,” the male soldier sighed, accepting his loss. “Get the detonator,” he instructed while the two other men working for him were shot down brutally.

“I’m not detonating anything,” the Doctor frowned, glaring at the soldier. Instead, he went to one of the soldiers that had been shot and tried to help him.

Meanwhile, the Hath began to breach the barricade and one of them grabbed Martha.

“Martha!” Ariel cried as the Hath started to drag her away, its hand over her mouth so she couldn’t scream out.

The Doctor’s daughter grabbed the detonator.

“Martha! No!” Ariel screamed.

“Don’t!” Donna yelled, pulling the brunette back as she started to run after Martha. “We don’t need to risk losing two of you. We’ll save her,” Donna assured her with a nod.

“Martha!” The Doctor screamed.

“Blow the thing!” The male soldier shouted to the Doctor’s daughter. “Blow the thing!”

“No, don’t!” The Doctor yelled, but it was too late. The blonde woman slammed her hand down on the button.

A loud klaxon sounded, wailing in their ears before a loud blast brought down the roof, throwing everyone backwards and off their feet.

Ariel scrambled to her feet and ran towards the closed off tunnel, staring at it with wide eyes. “The Tardis,” she breathed.

The Doctor jumped up and, before even noticing the Tardis, he scrambled toward Ariel and ran in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders and sighing audibly in relief when he saw she was okay save for a bit of dirt across her face.

He placed a kiss on her forehead and pulled her to his chest. “Thank God you’re okay,” he sighed. When he noticed she wasn’t hugging him back, he pulled away and frowned down at her. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Instead of responding verbally, she just raised a shaky finger to the closed off tunnel, behind which the Tardis was concealed.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he inhaled sharply, anger beginning to thrum through his veins as Ariel ran over to Donna and helped the ginger to his feet.

“You've sealed off the tunnel,” the Doctor snapped. “Why did you do that?” He asked the soldier and his daughter.

His daughter’s posture fell, frowning at her father as she was unable to understand his actions in anger. “They were trying to kill us,” she reasoned.

“But they’ve got our friend,” the Doctor retorted.

“Collateral damage,” the blonde woman shrugged. “At least you've still got them,” she said, gesturing to Ariel and Donna. “He lost both his men. I'd say you came out ahead,” she nodded.

“Her name's Martha,” Donna snapped. “And she's not collateral damage, not for anyone. Have you got that, GI Jane?”

Ariel grinned and held up a hand for Donna to high-five. “Yeah!” She exclaimed, nodding along with the ginger.

Donna beamed and high-fived the brunette.

The Doctor took a deep breath and turned back to the direction the Hath had taken Martha. “I’m going to find her,” he sighed.

Ariel darted forward and grabbed the Doctor’s wrist. “As good of an idea as I think that is. We’d better find out where the hell we are before you go out there. For all you know you could be heading into some place flooded with radiation and wind up regenerating.”

The Doctor sighed and nodded. He knew her concerns dug further than that, but what she said did make sense. He pulled her to his chest and hugged her tightly.

“We can go find her after we find out more,” Ariel promised.

The soldier held up his gun and aimed it at the trio. “You're going nowhere. You don't make sense, you two. No guns, no marks, no fight in you. I'm taking you to General Cobb. Now, move,” he ordered, shoving his gun towards them.

They all held up their hands in surrender, Ariel being the only one to audibly voice her displeasure. She sighed loudly. “Oh, the guns again,” she moaned. “You lot never get tired of the guns, do you?”

“March!” The soldier shouted.

“Alright, now I’m marching. I’m marching,” Ariel nodded. “No need to get your knickers wet over it,” she muttered and the Doctor fought hard to cover his laughter, but failed.

The pair of them always managed to make each other laugh when the situation was tense and worrisome. It was one of the main reasons they were so good together.

The Doctor and Ariel started talking, their surroundings dissolving around them as they laughed and joked, forgetting the fact that a rifle was being aimed at them as they spoke.

As they marched, the Doctor’s daughter started walking ahead of them and Donna eyed her curiously.

“I’m Donna, and this is Ariel,” Donna said, gesturing to the brunette who turned and flashed a quick smile at the blonde before turning back the Doctor and kneeling over as she laughed at a joke he made.

The blonde frowned at the couple, narrowing her eyes at them but saying absolutely nothing.

“What’s your name?” Donna asked the blonde.

“Don’t know,” the Doctor’s daughter shrugged. “It’s not been assigned.”

“Well, if you don't know that, what do you know?” Donna asked, curious to know what knowledge these people were born with if they didn’t even get a name.

“How to fight,” the blonde smiled.

“Nothing else?” Donna frowned. That would certainly be a violent way to live, having knowledge of nothing but fighting in battle.

The Doctor and Ariel had noticed Donna’s conversation and were both watching the pair with small frowns.

“The machine must embed military history and tactics, but no name. She's a generated anomaly,” the Doctor explained.

“Generated anomaly,” Donna frowned. “Generated,” she repeated. “Well, what about that? Jenny,” she suggested.

The blonde grinned, spinning around to face the trio as she walked backwards. “Jenny,” she nodded. “Yeah, I like that. Jenny.”

“What do you think, Dad?” Donna asked.

“Don’t you mean, Mum?” Ariel smirked.

“Oh, you,” the Doctor hummed, wrapping an arm around her and lifting her up. Ariel squealed as he placed her on the other side of him and the pair laughed as Ariel clung to his arm.

“Doctor?” Donna prompted with a chuckle.

“Sorry, what?” The Doctor frowned.

Ariel just laughed and shook her head. “What do you think of Jenny’s name?” She asked. “I think it suits her,” she nodded. “She definitely looks like a Jenny.”

Jenny beamed at the brunette.

“Good as anything , I suppose,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Not what you'd call a natural parent, are you?” Donna smirked.

“They stole a tissue sample at gunpoint and processed it,” the Doctor snapped. “It's not what I call natural parenting.”

“You mean natural birth-giving?” Ariel giggled.

“Oh, shut it,” the Doctor hissed, grinning down at her. He was grateful for her constant jabs though never verbally expressing it. It kept him at ease when old memories of his kids were being brought up.

“Rubbish,” Donna shook her head. “My friend Nerys fathered twins with a turkey baster. Don't bother her,” Donna shrugged.

“Oh, so Nerys is your friend now is she?” Ariel frowned. “Last I heard she was a bit whiney and rude.”

“It comes and goes,” Donna shrugged with a small sigh. “I’ve learnt not to trust it.”

The Doctor just rolled his eyes. “You can't extrapolate a relationship from a biological accident,” he said.

“Er, Child Support Agency can,” Donna retorted.

Ariel snorted and the Doctor shot a glare at her. “What? She’s got a point,” Ariel shrugged.

“Look, just because I share certain physiological traits with simian primates doesn't make me a monkey's uncle, does it?” The Doctor said, glancing at the pair with wide eyes.

Jenny turned around and glared at the trio. “I’m not a monkey!” She exclaimed as they turned a corner. “Or a child.”

“Yeah, I noticed when you popped out of that machine looking primed and ready for fighting,” Ariel nodded.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about Jenny. Sure, the girl seemed sweet and genuine like the Doctor, but she still despised that fighting instinct engrained in her. Ariel knew as well as anybody that a fight was sometimes necessary, but she didn’t think that should be all a person knows and until Jenny learned more, her first instinct was not to trust the girl. However, the Doctor seemed opposed to Jenny for a complete different reason. Ariel knew he had children because she remembered he had once mentioned being a grandfather, but she wasn’t sure what had happened to his kids.

She had to assume for the moment that his opposal to Jenny had something to do with his kids, but she vowed to find out more as soon as possible.

The soldier brought them into a large room with a domed roof and a gallery. Ariel frowned at the walling. It looked like a theatre. The large stage at the back of the room only confirmed her suspicions. However, instead of rows of chairs before the stage, there were more of the processing machines and soldiers and weaponry laid out across the area. It looked like someone had taken a theatre and transformed it into a large camp.

“So, where are we? What planet's this?” The Doctor asked, gazing up at the roof.

“Messaline,” the soldier replied. “Or what’s left of it,” he sighed.

“Six six three seventy five deceased. Generation six six seven one, extinct. Generation six six seven two, forty six deceased. Generation six six eight zero, fourteen deceased. Generation six,” a voice echoed over the PA, announcing to the whole theatre.

“But this is a theatre,” Donna frowned, not necessarily seeing how a theatre can be used as an army base.

“Maybe they’re doing Miss Saigon,” the Doctor smirked.

“No, it’s definitely Les Misérables,” Ariel nodded with a large grin and the Doctor laughed as they marched forward.

“Blimey, I’d love to see that,” he hummed.

Donna ignored the pair of them joking about different musicals taking place in the midst of war as she continued to take in the building. “It's like a town or a city underground. But why?” She wondered with a small frown.

The Doctor just granted her a quick curious glance before an older man with white hair and a neatly trimmed beard approached them.

“General Cobb, I presume,” the Doctor nodded.

“Found in the western tunnels, I'm told, with no marks,” General Cobb frowned at the trio. “There was an outbreak of pacifism in the eastern zone three generations back, before we lost contact. Is that where you came from?” He asked.

“Eastern zone, that's us, yeah,” the Doctor frowned, nodding along with what General Cobb said. “Yeah. I'm The Doctor, this is Donna, and this is Ariel,” he introduced the women, each of them waving in turn.

“And I’m Jenny,” Jenny grinned, ecstatic at the fact that she got the chance to introduce herself for the first time ever.

“Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking,” General Cobb snapped. “We're committed to the fight, to the very end,” he promised with a nod.

“Alright then, blimey,” Ariel mumbled.

“Well, that's alright. I can't stay, anyway,” the Doctor shrugged.

“We can’t stay!” Ariel corrected, glaring at him as she did so. “I’m not letting you go off looking for her on your own.”

“Well, alright then,” the Doctor nodded. He couldn’t see the harm in bringing Ariel along. It was certainly safer than leaving her where she was. “We can’t say. We've got to go and find our friend.”

“That's not possible,” General Cobb shook his head. “All movement is regulated. We're at war.”

“Yes, I noticed,” the Doctor nodded.

“Kind of hard not to, mate,” Ariel said.

“A war with the Hath. But tell me, because we got a bit out of circulation, eastern zone and all that. So who exactly are the Hath?” The Doctor asked.

“Back at the dawn of this planet, these ancient halls were carved from the earth. Our ancestors dreamt of a new beginning. A colony where human and Hath would work and live together,” General Cobb told them.

“So what happened?” The Doctor wondered.

“It died,” General Cobb spat.

“What killed it?” Ariel asked.

“Broken Hath promises,” General Cobb sighed. “They wanted it all for themselves. But those early pioneers, they fought back. They used the machines to produce soldiers instead of colonists, and began this battle for survival.”

“There's nothing but earth outside, why's that? Why build everything underground?” Donna wondered, peering outside one of the windows.

“The surface is too dangerous,” the soldier that had brought them there replied.

“Well, then why build windows in the first place?” Donna asked with a small frown.

Ariel nodded. “She’s got a point. Stuff isn’t adding up around here.”

“And what does this mean?” Donna asked, gesturing to a metal plaque beneath the window with the numbers 60120717 carved into it.

“The rites and symbols of our ancestors. The meaning's lost in time,” General Cobb shrugged.

“How long’s this war gone on for?” The Doctor asked.

“Longer than anyone can remember. Countless generations marked only by the dead,” General Cobb said ominously.

“But you must have some sort of written information. Some way to pass down this information,” Ariel reasoned.

“It’s ingrained in us from the moment we are brought out of the machines. Hard-wired into our DNA,” General Cobb said.

“What, so you’re all kids of the machine? Nobody was here before?” Ariel asked. “No kids produced using different methods,” she winced.

“The machine produced all the soldiers surrounding you,” General Cobb said.

“What about you? How far back do you remember? Because if that surface is too dangerous but you’ve all moved the fighting in here, you must’ve started fighting after whatever happened out there happened. Either that or you both just conveniently wound up underground in the same building while fighting,” Ariel winced.

“All I remember is spending all my days fighting,” General Cobb said.

“What, just fighting all this time?” Donna prompted.

“Because we must,” Jenny nodded. “Every child of the machine is born with this knowledge. It's our inheritance. It's all we know. How to fight, and how to die.”

“Never mind that,” the Doctor sighed. “Have you lot got a map?” The Doctor asked. “Something we can look at and figure where we are?”

General Cobb gave him a curious frown but nodded and waved him along. “Follow me,” he instructed.

He guided the trio to a small table and pulled up a holographic map, demonstrating the different tunnels stemming throughout the underground system.

The Doctor pulled out his little brown glasses and narrowed his eyes at the map. “Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?” He asked.

“Yes,” General Cobb nodded. “Why?” He frowned.

“Well, it’ll help us find Martha,” the Doctor shrugged.

“We've more important things to do,” the dark-haired soldier snapped. “The progenation machines are powered down for the night shift, but soon as they're active, we could breed a whole platoon from you three.”

“As if,” Ariel scoffed. “If I’m gonna have kids I want a say in what they do and learn, not people bred out by a machine forced to fight and knowing nothing but how to fight and die. I want them to learn more than that,” Ariel said.

The Doctor beamed down at her, somehow finding a way to fall in love with her even more as she spoke.

“I'm not having sons and daughters by some great big flipping machine!” Donna exclaimed. “Sorry, no offence, but you're not,” she muttered to Jenny awkwardly. “Well, I mean, you're not real,” she shrugged.

Jenny’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “You're no better than him. I have a body, I have a mind, I have independent thought. How am I not real? What makes you better than me?” She wondered.

“Well said, soldier,” General Cobb nodded. “We need more like you, if ever we're to find the Source,” he muttered.

“Ooo, the Source,” the Doctor hummed.

“That sounds interesting,” Ariel grinned.

“What's that, then? What's a Source? I like a Source. What is it?” The Doctor rambled and Ariel just giggled, shaking her head happily at him. She loved him so much.

“The Breath of Life,” General Cobb breathed.

“That sounds really good,” Ariel grinned.

“And that would be?” The Doctor prompted with an excited nod.

“In the beginning, the great one breathed life into the universe. And then she looked at what she'd done, and she sighed,” the soldier said, speaking as though he were reciting a Bible verse.

“She,” Jenny grinned. “I like that,” she nodded.

“Oh, me too,” Ariel chuckled, smiling at the soldier. "God is definitely a woman."

“Right. So it's a creation myth,” the Doctor sighed, growing uninterested.

“It's not myth,” General Cobb snapped. “It's real. That sigh. From the beginning of time it was caught and kept as the Source. It was lost when the war started. But it's here, somewhere. Whoever holds the Source controls the destiny of the planet.”

“Oh, yeah right, mate. Save it for story time,” Ariel mumbled, growing more interested in the map as the Doctor sonicked it.

It buzzed and the Doctor grinned victoriously.

“Ah!” The Doctor exclaimed. “I thought so. There's a suppressed layer of information in this map. If I can just-,” he muttered, trying to find the right setting on his sonic. Once he did, more tunnels and chambers appeared on the map, flashing golden. General Cobb stared at it with wide eyes as the Doctor smiled proudly at it.

“What is it, what’s it mean?” Donna asked, frowning at the map.

“See?” The Doctor said to General Cobb and Ariel, rudely ignoring Donna. “A whole complex of tunnels hidden from sight.”

“Now, all I’m wondering is hidden by who?” Ariel breathed.

“Isn’t that the question of the hour?’ The Doctor smirked.

“That must be the lost temple. The Source will be inside. You've shown us the way. And look, we're closer than the Hath. It's ours,” General Cobb grinned.

Ariel just rolled her eyes. She was growing weary of soldiers and their battle strategies and ignoring the wisest voice in the room: the Doctor.

“Tell them to prepare to move out. We'll progenate new soldiers on the morning shift, then we march. Once we reach the Temple, peace will be restored at long last!” General Cobb exclaimed and the soldiers behind them cheered.

“Er, call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace, couldn't you just stop fighting?” The Doctor frowned, stating a fact that should be obvious.

“Only when we have the Source. It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet,” General Cobb smirked.

“Wha- that’s not peace!” Ariel cried.

“Hang on, hang on. A second ago it was peace in our time. Now you're talking about genocide!” The Doctor hissed.

“For us, that means the same thing,” General Cobb.

“Then you need to get yourself a better dictionary. When you do, look up genocide. You'll see a little picture of me there, and the caption will read, over my dead body!” The Doctor roared.

“And you're the one who showed us the path to victory. But you can consider the irony from your prison cell. Cline, at arms,” General Cobb snapped and the soldier that had brought them to the camp started shoving them towards the cells.

“Oi, oi, oi. All right. Cool the beans, Rambo!” Donna snapped.

“Take them. I won't have them spreading treason. And if you try anything, Doctor, I'll see that your woman dies first,” General Cobb threatened, gesturing to Ariel.

“Oh, fuck you,” Ariel whined and the Doctor snorted.

“I think she’ll have something to say about that,” the Doctor chuckled.

“Come on,” Cline said. “This way,” he instructed, shoving them toward the cells.

“I'm going to stop you, Cobb. You need to know that,” the Doctor warned.

“I have an army and the Breath of God on my side, Doctor. What'll you have?” General Cobb smirked arrogantly.

“Oh, the arrogance,” Ariel sighed.

“This,” the Doctor smiled, tapping his mind.

General Cobb rolled his eyes and turned to Cline. “Lock them up and guard them,” he instructed.

“What about the new soldier?” Cline asked, gesturing his gun towards Jenny.

Jenny stepped forward and looked up at General Cobb with wide, innocent eyes.

“Can't trust her,” General Cobb shook his head. “She's from pacifist stock. Take them all,” he ordered.

Clint nodded and forced them into a large cell all together. He shoved them forward, slamming the door behind them.

Donna glanced around curiously and frowned when she spotted more numbers carved into the wall. 60120716.

“More numbers. They've got to mean something,” Donna hummed.

“Wait, that one seems similar to the last one,” Ariel frowned. “60120717,” she remembered. “They all start with 601, but why?”

“Makes as much sense as the Breath of Life story,” the Doctor sighed, collapsing onto a metal bench in the cell.

“You mean that’s not true?” Jenny frowned, looking like a kid who was just told that Santa didn’t exist.

“It’s completely fake,” Ariel nodded. “It even sounds fake. I mean, ‘she sighed’?!” Ariel exclaimed with a laugh and the Doctor chuckled.

“It’s a myth,” Donna sighed, collapsing onto the bench beside the Doctor. “Isn’t it, Doctor?”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, but there could still be something real in that temple. Something that's become a myth. A piece of technology, a weapon,” he muttered with a frown.

“This day just keeps getting better and better,” Ariel sighed sarcastically, leaning against the bars of the cell.

“So the Source could be a weapon and we've just given directions to Captain Nutjob?” Donna clarified.

“Oh, yes,” the Doctor nodded.

“Not good, is it?” Donna guessed, looking up at Ariel for clarification. Ariel was beginning to hold the same level of clarity for Donna. While she still couldn’t explain new surroundings or foreign people she helped Donna understand a lot about what they had to do. Maybe, it was how close Ariel and the Doctor were, but Donna liked to believe she was becoming her own version of the Doctor.

“No,” Ariel shook her head. “Very not good. If they get to that weapon. We’re gonna be here to witness an entire species being wiped out.”

“Not good,” Donna nodded.

“That's why we need to get out of here, find Martha and stop Cobb from slaughtering the Hath. What, what are you, what are you, what are you staring at?” the Doctor frowned up at Jenny.

She just grinned down at him, shaking her head slightly.

“You keep insisting you're not a soldier, but look at you, drawing up strategies like a proper general,” Jenny smiled.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she bolted over to the Doctor. Donna scooted over so she could sit and Ariel grabbed his hand. She could feel him growing tense at the very idea of being called a soldier.

“No, no,” the Doctor shook his head. “I’m trying to stop the fighting,” he insisted.

“Isn’t every soldier?” Jenny shrugged.

“Jenny, I’d stop while I was ahead if I were you,” Ariel warned. Jenny frowned at her, clearly confused as to why the Doctor was so opposed to being called a soldier.

“Well, I suppose, but that's, that's. Technically, I haven't got time for this. Donna, give me your phone. Time for an upgrade,” the Doctor said, desperately trying to distract himself from his daughter’s words.

Donna pulled out her phone and handed it to the Doctor and he pulled out his sonic to give it universal roaming.

“And now you’ve got a weapon,” Jenny nodded to the sonic.

“It’s not a weapon!” The Doctor snapped.

“But you're using it to fight back,” Jenny reasoned. “I'm going to learn so much from you. You are such a soldier,” she chuckled.

“Ariel, will you tell her?” The Doctor requested, clearly beginning to feel helpless and weak. He didn’t want to be a soldier. He had run from that identity ever since the Time War.

“Oh, you are speechless. I'm loving this. You keep on, Jenny,” Donna laughed.

“Stop it!” Ariel snapped, her eyes growing hard and cold enough to silence both women. “Both of you, right now! Now, I don’t care if you think it’s amusing to pick out exactly what he doesn’t want to be or you’re just having fun thinking you can prove something, but you need to stop right now or believe me it’s not going to be fun,” she a assured them. “For either of you,” she sneered, glaring at Donna.

“Alright,” Donna breathed, frowning as she looked down at her lap.

The Doctor sighed visibly in relief and pressed the mobile to his ear. “Martha?” He prompted. He waved Ariel to his side so she could listen in and she sent one last warning glare at the two women before scooting closer to the Doctor and listening in.

“Doctor!” Martha exclaimed. “Oh, am I glad to hear your voice. Are you alright?”

“I'm with Ariel and Donna. We're fine,” the Doctor nodded. “What about you?” He asked.

“And, and Jenny. She's fine too,” Donna added. Apparently, Donna had decided if she can’t press the Doctor on being a soldier, she can press him on being a father.

Ariel rolled her eyes.

“Yes, alright,” the Doctor sighed. “And, and Jenny. That's the woman from the machine. The soldier. My daughter, except she isn't, she's, she's,” he stammered, clearly uncomfortable. “Anyway. where are you?”

“I'm in the Hath camp. I'm okay, but something's going on. The Hath are all marching off to some place that's appeared on this map,” Martha said.

“Oh, that was me. If both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath,” the Doctor breathed, his eyes wide.

“What do you want me to do?” Martha asked.

“Just stay where you are,” the Doctor instructed. “If you're safe there, don't move, do you hear?” The Doctor said.

“But I can help,” Martha reasoned.

“We’re just trying to get out of here as quick as possible,” the Doctor said and frowned as he heard beeping echo in his ear. “Oh, the line went dead,” the Doctor sighed.

“Her battery must’ve died,” Ariel shrugged.

“Right, well, we’ve gotta figure out a way to get to that thing. That Source. And stop them,” the Doctor sighed, leaning forward and rubbing his face with his hands in frustration.

Jenny opened her mouth and Ariel held up a warning finger. “Pipe it, Jenny,” she snapped.

Jenny immediately closed her mouth.

“Doctor, I know you’re not in the mood right now, but do you mind if we talk?” Ariel asked, gesturing to the far end of the cage away from Donna and Jenny.

The Doctor frowned and took a deep breath before nodding. Ariel pulled him to the side and glanced back at Donna and Jenny who started engaging in their own conversation. “There’s something you’re not telling me,” Ariel said.

“Oi, you’re one to talk,” the Doctor remarked, referencing the secrets she still had not told him.

“Doctor,” Ariel said, glaring at him. He knew full well she couldn’t tell him yet and she knew he was just using that against her because he was frustrated.

“Right,” the Doctor sighed. “I had kids. I mentioned that to you once, I think. That I’m a grandfather?”

“Yeah, but you never really elaborated,” Ariel shrugged. “Did it end bad? Was it the Time War?”

“It was several things,” the Doctor sighed. “And I’m to blame.”

“So, you don’t want kids again and Jenny just reminds you of them,” Ariel nodded in understanding.

“Yeah,” the Doctor smiled softly. He always loved that Ariel was able to understand him so easily. It spared him the pain of having to explain everything about his past to her.

Ariel nodded. “I understand that, but you have to know Donna doesn’t know that and neither does Jenny. They’re not going to know that they can’t press you for this. I’ll try my best to help, but just remember that,” she told him with wide eyes.

He took a deep breath and nodded, raking his fingers through his hair as he glanced back at the women.

“Look at me,” Ariel said, placing a delicate hand on his cheek and turning his face to hers. “I’m here for you now. I’ll help you however I can.”

The Doctor smiled softly and lifted her chin up so his lips met hers. He kissed her sweetly, nothing like the usual kisses he gave her, but every bit expressing the silent gratitude he felt for her presence.

Ariel grinned as he pulled away. “You’re welcome,” she nodded.

“The doors that have been closed will be open to us now. The door to the Temple, to the Source, and to victory!” General Cobb yelled and loud cheers echoed throughout the camp, Cline even joining in on them. “Come the dawn cycle, we march. To war!”

“They're getting ready to move out. We have to get past that guard,” the Doctor sighed.

“I can deal with him,” Jenny nodded.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “No, no, no, no. You're not going anywhere,” the Doctor shook his head.

“What?” Jenny frowned.

“Doctor,” Ariel murmured, a hint of warning creeping into her tone. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it, assuring him with wide eyes that he would be okay.

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded. “You belong here with them,” he shrugged, gesturing to the camp.

“She belongs with us,” Donna jumped up, staring at the Doctor and Ariel with wide eyes. “With you. She's your daughter.”

“She's a soldier,” the Doctor snapped. “She came out of that machine.”

“What he means is,” Ariel sighed, stepping in before the Doctor started yelling. “Jenny’s memories are ingrained to fight the Hath with them. What makes you so sure she should come with us and not fight with them like she has known to do since, well, birth?” Ariel shrugged.

Donna sighed. “Have you got that stethoscope?” Donna asked and the Doctor stared down at Ariel with wide eyes. She couldn’t do much but shrug. “Give it to me,” Donna snapped. “Come on,” she nodded.

The Doctor pulled his stethoscope out of his suit and handed it to Donna.

“What are you doing?” Jenny frowned as Donna put the stethoscope on and pressed it to Jenny’s chest.

“It’s alright,” Donna assured her. “Just hold still.”

Donna took a deep breath and pulled the stethoscope off and handed it to the Doctor. “Come here. Listen, and then tell me where she belongs,” Donna said.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed, covering her mouth as she realized exactly what the Doctor would hear.

“Two hearts,” the Doctor mumbled, his hearts plummeting into his stomach. Now, Jenny was just like his other kids.

“Doctor,” Ariel whispered, wrapping her arms around him as he squeezed his eyes shut and took shaky breaths.

“What’s going on?” Jenny frowned.

“Does that mean she's a, what do you call a female Time Lord?” Donna asked and Ariel could feel the Doctor growing overwhelmed with the information.

“What’s a Time Lord?” Jenny asked, shaking her head in confusion.

The Doctor took a deep breath, bowing his head as he leant against the bars of the cell. Ariel pressed a hand against his chest and shook her head, silently telling him that she would take it so he didn’t have to deal with the pain of it.

He flashed her a quick but grateful smile and she gave his hand a quick squeeze before turning to Donna and Jenny. “It’s who the Doctor is. It’s sort of where he’s from.”

“And I’m from him?” Jenny prompted with a slightly understanding nod.

“You're an echo, that's all,” the Doctor snapped. “A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge, a code, a shared history, a shared suffering. Only it's gone now, all of it. Gone forever,” he breathed shakily.

“Doctor,” Ariel sighed, holding up a hand to keep him back, gazing up at him with sad eyes.

Donna seemed to just then be realizing what she had unlocked and she stared at the pair with wide eyes and an open jaw.

“Let me handle this,” Ariel muttered and the Doctor inhaled sharply, glancing back at Jenny one more time before nodding and turning away.

“What happened?” Jenny wondered, shaking her head in confusion.

“There was a war,” Ariel said.

“Like this one?” Jenny asked, trying to grasp onto some sort of understanding of where her father came from.

“Not exactly,” Ariel shrugged. “It was much, much bigger. It was a war for all of time.”

“And did he fight?” Jenny asked. “Did he kill?”

Ariel heard the Doctor take a deep breath behind her and she sighed softly. “Yes,” she nodded.

“Then, how are we different, Dad?” Jenny asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it just me or am I the only one that really hates the way Jenny and Donna picked on the Doctor for being a soldier. Don't get me wrong, I still love them, it's just the scenes in the cells are hardest for me to watch because I'm watching it and seeing David Tennant act out fabulously the pain he's feeling and it breaks my heart. It just seems like them bullying him into becoming something he doesn't want to be.


	21. The Source

The Doctor, Ariel and Donna all hid behind wall while Jenny smirked at Cline from through the bars. 

The Doctor had been strongly opposed to Jenny fighting or trying to knock out Cline, while Donna had continued insisting that Jenny was just trying to help. In order to stop the fighting, Ariel came up with another idea. 

She had used it several times with her previous two boyfriends to get them to do what she wanted when they were being stubborn. It was a lot of fun and they always had a good laugh after, but this time they were using it for real.

She taught Jenny what to say and what to do and in the back of her mind started to realize that she was teaching Jenny exactly what her mother had taught her. 

“Hey,” Jenny smirked.

“I’m not supposed to talk to you,” Cline said automatically. “I’m on duty,” he reminded her.

“I know. Guarding me,” Jenny grinned and Ariel stole a quick glance to see Cline smile at that remark. 

“It’s working,” she whispered to the Doctor and Donna.

“Oh, you are brilliant,” Donna grinned.

“So, does that mean I'm dangerous, or that I need protecting?” Jenny wondered, shrugging nonchalantly at Cline.

“Protecting from what?” He asked, beginning to play along with her and stepping in front of her, just as Ariel had expected. He wouldn’t want to flirt with her while turning his head every time. Every guy she knew always wanted to face girls head on so they could act like the flirting has no effect on them.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jenny sighed. “Men like you?” She suggested with a smirk before pulling him forward and kissing him roughly. She dropped his shirt from her hands and slowly, yet cautiously, pulled his pistol out of its holster and pulled away from the kiss, smiling at Cline as she pressed the pistol to his stomach. “Keep quiet and open the door,” her voice carrying the same lighthearted tone it did before despite having a gun pressed up against him.

“I’d like to see you try that,” Donna smirked at the Doctor and Ariel snorted. 

“Oh, what I wouldn’t give,” Ariel sighed. 

The door clanged as it opened and Jenny continued carrying Cline’s pistol and pointing it at him to make sure he didn’t yell out for help.

“Alright, I can take it from here,” Ariel nodded. 

Jenny smiled and put the gun away before Ariel jumped up and kicked Cline in the chest. She dragged him into the cell and placed her foot on his stomach, keeping him down as she pulled a hanky from his belt and tied it around his mouth.

Jenny grinned at her and let her out before closing the cell door and locking Cline inside.

“Where did you learn to do that?” The Doctor frowned.

“Mum had me take martial arts classes after Dad died,” Ariel shrugged. “I hated it but she said as long as I’ve got good enough knowledge to keep pigs off the street away she doesn’t care. I think she mostly did it because she knew I’d always be walking to school and home alone,” Ariel sighed.

“Well, blimey, your mum and I are gonna have a chat when you stop by next time,” the Doctor mumbled and Ariel laughed. 

“I only went to like three classes. I hated it and everyone there,” Ariel sighed. “But I learned enough so mum didn’t mind me giving it up.”

“Is there any other shocking and hidden ability you have that I should know about?” The Doctor asked.

“Well, I can play the piano and violin, but that’s about it,” Ariel shrugged. “You already know everything else.”

“Alright, blimey, I wasn’t expecting an answer,” the Doctor mumbled and Ariel giggled as they headed down a staircase.

They all started walking until the Doctor held out his hand to stop the three women. He peered around the corner and spotted a guard on the lower flight of the stairs. 

“That’s the way out,” the Doctor sighed. 

“And there’s a guard blocking it,” Ariel muttered. “Of course,” she said, rolling her eyes. They always seemed to have the worst luck.

Jenny raised her pistol and the Doctor’s eyes flared, reaching out and grabbing it immediately. 

“Don’t you dare,” he hissed.

Jenny stared at him with wide alarmed eyes, much like a child being scolded by her parent.

“Let me distract this one,” Donna smirked. “Ariel and Jenny got the last one anyway and I may have picked up a few womanly wiles over the years,” she grinned.

Ariel stared at her with wide eyes, genuinely unsure of whether she should laugh or be seriously concerned.

The Doctor stared at Donna with wide eyes as well, looking as though he’d rather kill the guard than watch Donna use her ‘womanly wiles’ on the man.

“Let's save your wiles for later. In case of emergency,” the Doctor nodded and Donna looked disappointed, sighing softly but nodding nonetheless.

The Doctor fished around in his coat. “I must have something in here,” he hummed.

“You probably do,” Ariel nodded. “The amount of rubbish you fit in that coat never ceases to amaze me,” she sighed.

The Doctor grinned victoriously as he held up a clockwork mouse for all the women to see.

“Seriously?” Ariel groaned. “Of all the things we could use, you pull out a mouse?”

“Oi,” the Doctor frowned. “Don’t diss the mouse.”

“I’m just saying,” Ariel shrugged. “I would’ve thought The Oncoming Storm could’ve done better.”

“It’s a good plan!” The Doctor insisted. “Now, help me wind him up,” he grinned like a small schoolboy.

Ariel giggled and wound up the mouse before the Doctor dropped it to the ground and allowed it to distract the guard. 

While the man followed the mouse, the Doctor slowly crept out from behind the stairwell.

Ariel snorted as she watched the man pick up the mouse curiously. “He’s like a cat,” she breathed and Donna chuckled as she nodded.

Just then, before anybody could stop her and while the guard’s back was turned, Jenny ran up behind him and whacked him hard on the back of the head making him fall straight onto his face.

“I was going to distract him, not clobber him!” The Doctor exclaimed. 

“Well, it worked, didn't it?” Jenny shrugged.

“Oh, come on, Doctor,” Ariel sighed. “At least she didn’t kill him. She could’ve easily ignored you and shot him in two seconds.”

The Doctor sighed. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he mumbled as he grabbed the mouse and put it back in his coat. 

“You seriously want to keep that thing?” Ariel winced. 

“‘Course I do!” The Doctor exclaimed with a grin.

Ariel rolled her eyes. “There are somethings I will never understand how you love,” she muttered as the Doctor narrowed his eyes at the guard.

“They must all have a copy of that new map,” the Doctor mumbled. “Just stay there. Don't hurt anyone,” he advised Jenny.

The Doctor grabbed a copy of the map from the guard and nodded to Ariel. She grinned and grabbed his hand before taking off with him down the second flight of steps.

They headed down one of the tunnels and soon waved for Donna and Jenny to follow them. The Doctor peered down at the map as they ran through the tunnel.

Eventually, he skidded to a stop and glanced at his side. “Wait. This is it. The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel,” he frowned.

Donna walked up to his side and frowned at another metal plate. “It's another one of those numbers. They're everywhere.”

This one read: 60120714.

“They’re all similar too,” Ariel muttered. “They all look the same except the one in the cell was 60120716.”

“The original builders must have left them,” the Doctor shrugged. “Some old cataloguing system,” he guessed.

“You got a pen? Bit of paper?” Donna asked and the Doctor nodded, fishing a pen and a bit of paper out of his suit and handing it to her. “Because, do you see, the numbers are counting down. It’s like Ariel said. This one ends in one four. The prison cell said one six.”

“Could it be counting down to the Source?” Ariel wondered. “Maybe, it’s the original builders way of sort of guiding people to it.”

“Could be,” Donna nodded as she wrote down all the numbers they had seen so far.

“Always thinking, all of you,”  Jenny smiled. “Who are you people?”

“I told you,” the Doctor nodded. “I’m the Doctor.”

“The Doctor,” Jenny frowned. “That’s it?”

“That’s all he ever says,” Donna sighed. 

“So, you don't have a name either?” Jenny prompted. “Are you an anomaly, too?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he worked through the control panel “No,” he muttered.

“Oh, come off it. You're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met,” Donna chuckled.

“That’s just the name he chose,” Ariel sighed. “You chose to be called Jenny and he chose to be called the Doctor. Everyone deserves to choose what they’re called,” she nodded.

Jenny nodded in understanding. Ariel could see she was just trying to work out her father was and truly didn’t know why the Doctor disliked her so much. It wasn’t her fault that she existed, but it wasn’t the Doctor’s fault either. Ariel didn’t enjoy listening to Donna press him to father Jenny and it wasn’t easy for the Doctor to explain everything about himself to his daughter seeing as everytime she spoke he was reminded of what he lost, but Ariel could see he was getting used to it. She wasn’t sure if that was supposed to make her happy or just break her heart even further at the fact that he was getting used to the pain Jenny presented.

The Doctor got into the control panel and grinned. “Here it is,” he sighed.

“And Time Lords,” Jenny sighed. “What are they for, exactly?” She wondered.

“You say that like they’re born to have a job,” Ariel scoffed. “They’re just people,” she shrugged.

“Yeah,” the Doctor frowned. “They're not, they're not for anything.”

“So what do you do?” Jenny asked, with a shrug.

She was genuinely learning about a universe outside of just fighting and being a soldier. She was trying to understand races out of those just born to fight and Ariel smiled softly at her. She did truly admire that the blonde was trying to learn.

“I travel through time and space,” the Doctor replied.

“Hold on, Doctor,” Ariel mumbled, pointing at the control panel. “These look like the controls for a door,” she sighed. 

“Yeah,” the Doctor frowned. He pulled out his sonic once again and sonicked the controls. “If we can just get it open,” he muttered.

“He saves planets, rescues civilisations, defeats terrible creatures. And runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved,” Donna grinned at Jenny.

The door opened and the Doctor grinned. “Got it!” He exclaimed.

Just then, off in the distance they heard the sound of loud boots echoing throughout the corridor. “Squad five, with me,” General Cobb commanded in the distance.

“Now, what were you saying about running?” The Doctor chuckled. 

Donna grinned at him and he grabbed Ariel’s hand, putting his sonic back in his suit as he bolted through the corridor with the distant voices of the soldiers following them.

They got far enough away that they couldn’t hear the other soldiers, but skidded to a stop in front of a passageway with an array of laser beams criss-crossing it.

“Oh, brilliant,” Ariel sighed sarcastically.

“That’s not mood lighting, is it?” Donna groaned.

The Doctor pulled the clockwork mouse out of his suit and tossed it at one of the laser beams. It sparked and disintegrated. 

“Oh, thank, God. I hated that thing,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor chuckled and shook his head at her while Donna stared at the laser beams with wide eyes.

“No, I didn’t think it was mood lighting,” Donna said.

“Arming device,” the Doctor muttered, nodding in irritation.

He turned and luckily found a control panel to his side. He sighed in relief and got to work on it, pulling his sonic out of his suit once more. 

“There's more of these,” Donna frowned at the metal plate by the side of the control panel. “Always eight numbers, counting down the closer we get.”

This one read: 60120713.

“So, it must be counting down to the Source,” Ariel nodded. “Though I can’t work out why they have 601207 before it,” she muttered. “That must mean something.”

“Right, here we go,”  the Doctor muttered as the control panel started working for him.

“You’d better be quick,” Donna nodded to him as the sounds of distant boots started to draw closer.

“Corridor!” General Cobb yelled to the other soldiers.

“The General,” Jenny gasped.

“Oh, just what we need,” Ariel moaned.

Jenny pulled up her gun and started running away but Ariel darted after her and grabbed her wrist. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Yeah, hold on, where do you think you’re doing?” The Doctor asked.

“I can hold them up,” Jenny shrugged.

“No, we don't need any more dead,” the Doctor shook his head. 

“We’re not going to stop them from following us by killing them,” Ariel agreed.

“But it’s them or us,” Jenny reasoned.

“That doesn’t mean you have to kill them,” the Doctor frowned, shaking his head once again.

“I’m trying to save your lives,” Jenny sighed. “Both of you,” she said, glancing at the two parental figures staring down at her with sad eyes.

“Jenny, you don’t like it,” Ariel shook her head. “Once you’ve left a dead body in your wake. It kills you.”

Jenny seemed to tune Ariel out and the Doctor sighed in frustration, leaning down and praying she would listen to him. “Listen to me. The killing. After a while, it infects you. And once it does, you're never rid of it.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Jenny shrugged.

“Of course, we have a choice!” Ariel insisted.

“We always have a choice,” the Doctor nodded.

“I’m sorry,” Jenny sighed and pulled her wrist out of Ariel’s grasp, running towards the approaching soldiers.

“Jenny!” The Doctor called, but it was too late. She disappeared and soon after they heard gunfire being exchanged.

The Doctor took a deep breath and marched back to the control panel, raking his fingers through his hair and shaking his head to try and tune out the sound of his daughter killing people. Ariel sighed softly and wrapped her arms around him and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek as a silent apology for the fact that neither of them could do better.

He turned and glared at Donna. “I told you,” the Doctor said, shaking his head. “Nothing but a soldier.”

“She’s trying to help,” Donna reasoned, not understanding why the Doctor was so opposed to seeing Jenny as his daughter and not a simple soldier.

“Doctor, you know we have to try and help her,” Ariel mumbled, appealing to his more reasonable side. She knew he would listen to her above any of them. After all, she had just spent the past hour in a cell defending him against Donna and Jenny. “Forget for a minute that she’s your daughter. She is still a Time Lord. She still needs to learn better than always killing,” Ariel said, still keeping her arms wrapped around him.

The Doctor sighed softly and nodded, messing up his hair as he focused his attention on the control panel. “Alright,” he muttered.

Donna grinned victoriously at the sound of the Doctor agreeing to at least try and help Jenny. It was better than nothing.

The Doctor started getting closer to knocking out the laser beams. “Jenny, come on!” He called.

“I’m coming!” Jenny exclaimed.

The lasers went out and the Doctor beamed at the sight while Ariel giggled and gave him a quick kiss out of joy. 

“That’s it,” Donna breathed. 

The Doctor nodded. “Jenny, leave it!” He yelled. “Let’s go!”

“Jenny, the lasers are out! Come on!” Ariel called.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and the pair of them ran down the passageway while the lasers were still down.

They all spun around and Ariel felt the Doctor tense up as he anxiously awaited the sight of his daughter on the other side of the passageway. Once the blonde made an appearance, the Doctor inhaled sharply and squeezed Ariel’s hand. Ariel grinned up at the Doctor. He was beginning to accept the fact that he was Jenny’s father. She could see it in him. She was proud of him. The only thing she didn’t like about Jenny was how fighting was her automatic default, and she knew if the woman travelled with her and the Doctor, she could learn better.

“Jenny, come on. That's it,” the Doctor said, gesturing to her from the other side of the passageway.

“Hurry up,” Donna nodded.

Just as Jenny was about to step forward, the lasers powered back on, blocking her exit.

“No, no, no, no, no, no. The circuit's looped back,” the Doctor moaned, staring at the lasers in horror.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed.

“Zap it back again!” Donna exclaimed. 

“He can’t!” Ariel cried.

“The controls are back there!” The Doctor nodded.

“They’re coming,” Jenny gasped, turning at the sound of soldiers nearing behind her.

“Wait. Just. There isn't. Jenny, I can't,” the Doctor stammered wildly, in utter disbelief at the fact that he would be losing another child.

Jenny stepped back and took a deep breath. “I'll have to manage on my own,” she nodded. “Watch and learn, Father,” she grinned.

She tossed her weapon to the side and somersaulted through the laser beams. Ariel stared at her wide eyes. 

“Now  _ that _ is something I’d like to see you try,” Ariel giggled as Jenny landed in front of them and beamed up at Ariel and the Doctor.

“No way. But that was impossible,” Donna stammered, staring at Jenny with a frozen expression of utter disbelief.

“Well, it can’t be impossible seeing as she is right there,” Ariel grinned with pride at Jenny.

“Yeah, not impossible,” the Doctor nodded, smiling down at his daughter. “Just a bit unlikely,” he chuckled as he hugged the blonde tightly. “Brilliant!” He exclaimed. “You were brilliant. Brilliant.”

“I didn't kill him,” Jenny shook her head with a grin. “General Cobb, I could have kill him but I didn't. You were right. Both of you were right,” Jenny said, glancing at Ariel and the Doctor. “I had a choice,” she nodded.

Ariel smiled at her. “I’m so proud of you,” she said and Jenny beamed up at her.

Just then, General Cobb and the other soldiers marched up to the other side of the laser grids and Ariel grabbed Jenny’s hand.

“Now, it’s time to run,” Ariel mumbled and all three women bolted down the corridor.

The second Ariel saw the Doctor wasn’t following them, she told Donna to run ahead with Jenny and headed back to the Doctor.

“I warned you, Cobb. If the Source is a weapon, I'm going to make sure you never use it,” the Doctor said.

“We’re not going to stand by and watch you just commit genocide,” Ariel shook her head. 

“One of us is going to die today and it won't be me,” General Cobb snapped, glaring at the couple.

The soldiers surrounding General Cobb raised their guns and started shooting at the couple. The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and bolted away from their hail of bullets, running to catch up with Donna and Jenny.

Once they met the women, the Doctor pulled the map out of his suit and he and Ariel began working out where they were and how to proceed. 

Meanwhile, Jenny steadily grew more and more curious about her father. 

“So, you travel together, but you're not together?” Jenny asked Donna.

“What?” Donna frowned. “No. No. No way. No, no, we're friends, that's all,” she shook her head.

“But Ariel?” Jenny prompted. “She and him-?”

“Are together,” Donna nodded. “They’re sort of perfect for each other if you ask me,” Donna smiled, watching as her two closest friends walked as close as physically possible to each other, finishing each other’s sentences as they tried to work out where they were on the map. “They were travelling together before I even started travelling with him.”

“And what's it like, the travelling?” Jenny wondered.

“Oh, never a dull moment,” Donna sighed softly, grinning at Jenny. “It can be terrifying, brilliant and funny, sometimes all at the same time. I've seen some amazing things though. Whole new worlds.”

“Oh, I’d love to see new worlds,” Jenny smiled.

“You will,” Donna assured her with a nod. “Won’t she, Doctor?” Donna prompted.

“Hmm?” The Doctor froze, turning to Donna with a raised eyebrow. He had been so engaged in his conversation, he wasn’t listening to their conversation like he normally did.

“Do you think Jenny will see any new worlds?” Donna asked.

The Doctor frowned and raised an eyebrow at Ariel. She grinned and nodded furiously, silently telling him that she would love to have Jenny on board. He never brought anyone on board without making sure it was alright with her. He had done so with Donna and he wasn’t willing to do it without her input, even if t was his daughter.

“I suppose so,” the Doctor shrugged, smirking down at the blonde.

“You mean,” Jenny breathed, her eyes widening as she realized what the Doctor meant. “You mean you'll take me with you?”

“Well, we can't leave you here, can we?” The Doctor smiled.

Jenny grinned widely and jumped up to hug the Doctor. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She exclaimed and the Doctor just chuckled as he hugged her back. When Jenny pulled away, she glanced down the corridor wildly. “Come on, let's get a move on,” she insisted, bolting forward.

“Careful, there might be traps!” The Doctor called. 

Ariel sighed. “Jenny! Slow down!” She yelled before rolling her eyes and raking her fingers through her hair.

“Kids,” Donna sighed. “They never listen,” she eyed the Doctor and Ariel with a small smirk. “Oh, I know that look. I see it a lot round our way. Blokes with pushchairs and frowns. You've got dad-shock.”

“Dad-shock?” The Doctor echoed with a frown.

“What? There’s an actual word for that?” Ariel chuckled. She knew the look. It happened all too often when kids at school had sex without protection but seemed so surprised when they got pregnant. 

“Yeah,” Donna nodded. “Sudden unexpected fatherhood. Take a bit of getting used to,” she shrugged.

Ariel snorted as she realized Donna didn’t know about the Doctor’s other children. She knew it wasn’t her fault, but it was amusing to see her talk about a man who was a grandfather like he was a first time father. 

“No, it’s not that,” the Doctor frowned, shaking his head.

“Well, what is it then? Having Jenny in the Tardis, is that it? What's she going to do, cramp your style? Like you've got a sports car and she's going to turn it into a people-carrier?” Donna wondered.

“Donna,” Ariel sighed. “The Doctor has been a dad before. A grandad even.”

Donna froze. Her eyes widening as she stared at the couple. “What?” She frowned.

“I lost all that a long time ago, along with everything else,” the Doctor sighed.

“I'm sorry. I didn't know,” Donna mumbled awkwardly. She felt terrible as she realized how hard she had been pressing the Doctor about caring for Jenny like a proper father. Now, she knew why Ariel had been so mad at her for it. She was protecting the Doctor. Protecting him from remembering the deaths of his kids. “Why didn't you tell me? You talk all the time, but you don't say anything. You only tell Ariel all of this. I never knew,” Donna sighed.

“I know,” the Doctor nodded. “I'm just. When I look at her now, I can see them. The hole they left, all the pain that filled it. I just don't know if I can face that every day,” he shrugged.

Donna sighed softly. “But it won’t stay like that,” she insisted. “She’ll help you,” she said, nodding to Jenny. “Ariel will too. So will I.”

“But when they died, that part of me died with them. It'll never come back. Not now,” the Doctor muttered.

“I tell you something, Doctor. Something I've never told you before. I think you're wrong,” Donna said firmly, staring up at him with wide eyes.

Just then, gunfire echoed throughout the corridor and Jenny came running back, her permanent grin still etched across her face. “They've blasted through the beams. Time to run again. Love the running. Yeah?” She prompted breathlessly. 

Ariel chuckled and nodded. “Yeah,” she said.

“Love the running,” the Doctor beamed and Jenny nodded furiously before they all started running once again.

Soon, they reached a set of three corridors. They could hear gunfire or shouting from each of them.

“We’re trapped,” Donna gasped.

Ariel spun around to the wall behind them and frowned at the ridges along it. It looked like the doors that they had run through before. 

“Maybe not,” Ariel muttered. She stepped back and stared at it with wide eyes. “This is a door,” she grinned. 

The other three all spun around and their eyes widened as they realized that Ariel was right.

“Oh, brilliant, you are!” The Doctor exclaimed, pulling her in for an overjoyed kiss before pulling out his sonic out and using it on the door. 

Ariel giggled as Donna stepped forward curiously as she spotted another one of those metal plates. 

“This must be the Temple,” the Doctor frowned up at the door.

“And again,” Donna muttered at the metal plate that read 60120712. She pulled out the paper and pen the Doctor had given her and marked it down. “We're down to one two now,” she mumbled.

“That must mean we’re getting close,”  Ariel guessed.

“I’ve got it!” The Doctor exclaimed when he found the right setting on his sonic. 

“They’re getting closer,” Jenny warned, tapping Ariel and the Doctor anxiously.

“Nearly done,” the Doctor nodded.

“Y’know, I think you’re right, Ariel,” Donna hummed. “These can’t be a cataloguing system,” she shook her head.

“The only thing I can’t get out of my head is, why eight numbers? Could it be something about the location? Or maybe a time or something? It has to be marking something, I just can’t work out what.”

“They’re getting closer,” Jenny muttered warily, still tapping the couple.

“Then get back here,” Ariel sighed, waving for Jenny to take cover behind her and the Doctor as she stared at the numbers with Donna.

“They're too similar. Too familiar,” Donna mumbled.

“Too familiar?” Ariel frowned, at first confused by the statement but finding she agreed with the ginger. “Yeah,” she nodded. “But I can’t work out where from. It’s like it’s right there on the tip of my tongue.”

“But you just can’t seem to get it,” Donna nodded in agreement.

“Now!” The Doctor cried. “Got it!”

The Doctor finally got the door open and they all bolted through immediately. 

“They’re coming,” Jenny mumbled anxiously. “Close the door.”

The Doctor did as she said and locked it behind them before sighing softly and turning to Ariel, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Oh, that was close,” Jenny sighed, grinning at her father hugging the woman he loved.

“He likes to cut it just a bit too close,” Ariel nodded, having grown well adjusted to the Doctor risking it by then. 

“No fun otherwise,” the Doctor shrugged and Jenny giggled and nodded.

Donna frowned up at the spaceship surrounding them. “Not exactly what I’d call a temple,” she muttered.

“Yeah,” Ariel frowned, pulling herself out of the Doctor’s arms and grabbing his hand as she stared up at the tall ship. 

“It looks more like-,” Jenny began.

“Fusion drive transport,” the Doctor nodded. “It's a spaceship.”

“It can’t have been used by any of the soldiers,” Ariel shook her head. “With the folklore they’re spreading, they probably wouldn’t want to believe their origins probably comes from here. Which means this should be-.”

“What, the original one?” Donna frowned. “The one the first colonists arrived in?”

“It could be,” the Doctor nodded. Jenny grinned at the trio. Their minds all seemed to be connected. Whenever they thought, they seemed to think in unison, to come up with things together. It was astounding just to watch. “But the power cells would have run down after all that time. This one's still powered-up and functioning. Come on,” the Doctor said, tugging on Ariel’s hand and guiding them up a staircase.

They all headed up the flight of stairs to see someone cutting their way through one of the doors. 

“It's the Hath,” Jenny breathed with wide eyes. “That door's not going to last much longer. And if General Cobb gets through down there, war's going to break out.”

The Doctor and Ariel exchanged a wary glance and were about to leave when the Doctor spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A small podium with a touch screen on it. 

“Look, look, look, look, look,” the Doctor said, pulling Ariel forward as the two women followed. “Ship's log.”

The Doctor put his glasses on and pulled Ariel in front of him so he could read it over her shoulder. The screen said Messaline Leader One mission log designation XG2482942-372.

“First wave of Human/Hath co-colonisation of planet Messaline,” the Doctor read.

“Core subterranean deployment successful. Online and active. Phase one initiated. Construction drones deployed. Construction of sections 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3C & 3D complete. Phase one in progress. Construction drones active. Construction of sections 1C, 1D, 2C, 2D, 3A & 3C complete,” Ariel continued reading.

“So, it’s the original ship,” Jenny nodded, confirming what Ariel had believed.

“What happened?” Donna wondered.

“Construction drones deployed,” the Doctor hummed. “They used robot drones to build the city,” he mumbled.

“But does it mention the war?” Donna asked.

The Doctor scrolled down through Phase One in progress. Construction of western quadrant complete. Phase two initiated. Commencing colonisation protocol 0.7. Designated pioneer progenation in progress. Mission commander quarantined due to eruption of byzantine fever. Prognosis negative.

“Final entry,” the Doctor announced once he found it and he wrapped his arms around Ariel’s waist as he read. She grinned up at him and held his arms. “Mission commander dead. Still no agreement on who should assume leadership. Hath and humans have divided into factions. That must be it. A power vacuum. The crew divided into two factions and turned on each other. Start using the progenation machines, suddenly you've got two armies fighting a never-ending war.”

“Two armies who are both now outside,” Jenny nodded, listening anxiously to the armies trying to get inside the ship.

“Look at that,” Donna breathed, pointing up at a screen displaying numbers similar to the ones they had found through the tunnels.

60120724.

It was right above a screen displaying the surface of the planet. Barren and devoid of life.

“It’s like the numbers in the tunnels,” the Doctor shrugged, resting his chin on Ariel’s head.

“No, but it’s larger,” Ariel breathed, frowning at it.

“No, no, no, no,” Donna shook her head, assuring the couple that neither of those things had drawn her attention. “But listen, I spent six months working as a temp in Hounslow Library, and I mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. I'm good with numbers. It's staring us in the face.”

“Oh, I knew it looked familiar!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Now, you’re getting it,” Donna chuckled, nodding at her.

“What is it?” Jenny frowned.

“It's the date,” Donna breathed and Ariel grinned, nodding along with her. “Assuming the first two numbers are some big old space date, then you've got year, month, day. It's the other way round, like it is in America.”

The Doctor released Ariel and jumped up victoriously, grinning as he understood. “Oh!” He exclaimed. “It's the New Byzantine Calendar!”

“The codes are completion dates for each section. They finish it, they stamp the date on. So the numbers aren't counting down, they're going out from here, day by day, as the city got built,” Donna explained, gesturing to each set of numbers in turn.

“Yes. Oh, good work, Donna,” the Doctor hummed.

“Doctor, you still don’t understand,” Ariel said, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Yeah, you're still not getting it,” Donna nodded. “The first number we saw back there, was 60120717 . Well, look at the date today,” she said, gesturing to the screen.

“Oh seven twenty four,” the Doctor breathed, frowning at the screen. “No,” he mumbled.

“Now, you see,” Ariel nodded with wide eyes, smiling at him.

“What does it mean?” Jenny asked with a small frown.

“It means it’s been a week,” Ariel said.

“Seven days,” the Doctor nodded breathlessly.

“That’s it. Just seven days,” Donna shrugged.

“Only a week,” Ariel smirked.

“What do you mean, only a week?” Jenny asked, unable to keep up with the trio’s rapid train of thought.

“It’s been a week since war broke out,” the Doctor said.

“This war started seven days ago,” Donna sighed. “Just a week. A week!” She exclaimed.

“They said years,” Jenny frowned.

“No, they didn’t,” Ariel shook her head with a small smile. “They never actually gave a time frame. They just said as long as they can remember. Generations,” she grinned, stepping towards Jenny slowly.

“And if they're all like you, and they're products of those machines,” Donna continued.

“They could have twenty generations in a day,” the Doctor nodded, finishing their conjoined conclusion. “Each generation gets killed in the war, passes on the legend. Oh, the both of you are geniuses!” He exclaimed giving Donna a kiss on the forehead and Ariel a quick kiss on the lips.

“But all the buildings, the encampments. They're in ruins,” Jenny reasoned.

“No, they're not ruined,” the Doctor shook his head. “They're just empty. Waiting to be populated. Oh, they've mythologised their entire history,” he hummed. “The Source must be part of that too. Come on.” He grabbed Ariel’s hand and they all ran forward.

Eventually, Ariel skidded to a stop, yanking the Doctor backwards as she spotted a familiar face shivering by some machinery.

“Martha!” Ariel exclaimed, grinning at the woman.

“Ariel!” Martha grinned. “Doctor!”

“Martha!” The Doctor cried, beaming down at the woman. “Oh, I should have known you wouldn't stay away from the excitement,” he hummed as he and Ariel hugged the woman.

Martha just chuckled and turned to Donna. “Donna,” she smiled, hugging the red-head.

“Oh, you’re filthy,” Donna frowned, pulling out of Martha’s arms and staring down at the woman’s clothes. “What happened?”

“Yeah, no offense, but you stink a bit too,” Ariel winced, plugging her nose.

“I, er, took the surface route,” Martha mumbled awkwardly, gesturing up to the planet’s surface.

“Positions!” They heard General Cobb order from somewhere in the distance.

“That's the General,” the Doctor sighed, raking his fingers through his hair furiously. “We haven't got much time.”

“We don’t even know what we’re looking for,” Donna frowned.

“Is it me, or can you smell flowers?” Martha asked, sniffing the air curiously.

“I can smell you,” Ariel remarked, her nose still plugged.

Martha just sighed with a soft smile and moved Ariel to the other side of her. “Stick downwind,” she advised.

“Ah, yeah, I can smell flowers,” Ariel smiled, sniffing the air while Martha laughed. “That’s a bit odd,” she muttered.

“Maintain defensive positions!” General Cobb shouted.

“Yes. Bougainvillea,” the Doctor frowned. “I say we follow our nose,” he recommended, sniffing the air and following the smell as it got stronger.

They followed the scent until they reached a room filled with plants like the ships own mini garden. The Doctor grinned at the sight and Ariel spun around, smelling the plants and peering at each of them gleefully.

“Oh, yes. Yes. Isn't this brilliant?” The Doctor beamed.

Ariel nodded firmly. “I love it,” she sighed. “I love gardens. My dad used to take me to one every year during spring break when I was a kid,” she sighed and the Doctor grinned, wrapping an arm around her as they approached the center of it all.

A glowing globe sat on a pedestal with wires running to it. Nearby, there was a control panel and a screen, most likely monitoring the globe.

“Is that the Source?” Donna asked.

“It must be,” Ariel shrugging, smiling down at the shining globe.

“It’s beautiful,” Jenny breathed.

“What is it?” Martha asked. Looking down at it, they all knew the Source wasn’t built to commit genocide like General Cobb thought it did. Instead, it brought life.

“Terraforming. It's a third generation terraforming device,” the Doctor said, peering down at the device.

“So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?” Donna wondered, glancing around curiously at the garden surrounding her.

“Because that's what it does,” the Doctor nodded.

“It’s not designed to commit genocide like General Mace wanted,” Ariel smiled. “It brings life. Oh, that is a plot twist I am happy to see,” she sighed and the Doctor nodded firmly in agreement.

“It produces plant life. All this, only bigger. Much bigger. It's in a transit state. Producing all this must help keep it stable before they finally-,” he explained but was cut off by the dozens of boots running in on both sides of them and dozens of guns clicking.

The Doctor ran forward and held up his hands to both the Hath and the soldiers all aiming their weapons at each other.

“Stop!” The Doctor cried. “Hold your fire!” He shouted.

“What is this, some kind of trap?” General Cobb sneered at the Doctor.

“Oh, I really don’t like him,” Ariel hummed and Donna nodded in agreement.

“You said you wanted this war over,” the Doctor reminded him.

“I want this war won,” General Cobb snapped, correcting the Doctor.

“You can't win,” the Doctor shook his head. “No one can. You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers, getting more distorted the more it's passed on. This is the Source. This is what you're fighting over. A device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem. It's nothing mystical. It's from a laboratory, not some creator. It's a bubble of gases. A cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable. Look around you. It's not for killing, it's bringing life. If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels and into the bright, bright sunlight. No more fighting, no more killing,” he said, picking up the globe.

“I'm the Doctor, and I declare this war is over,” the Doctor announced before smashing the globe on the floor.

“God, I love you,” Ariel sighed, grinning at the Doctor as the gas and energy from the globe swirled through the garden reaching both the Hath and the soldiers. It slowly rose up to go to the surface and rebuild the planet for them.

One by one, the Hath and the soldiers all dropped their weapons, leaving General Cobb as the only one holding a gun.

“What’s happening?” Jenny asked Ariel and the Doctor, staring up at the pair of them with wide, curious eyes.

“The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process,” the Doctor said.

“Soon, on the planet’s surface, all new plant life will grow across it, just like it did here, but much bigger,” Ariel grinned.

“What does that mean?” Jenny asked.

“It means a new world,” the Doctor said, smiling down at her.

He wrapped an arm around Ariel and the pair turned around, not noticing General Cobb had raised his gun at them.

“No!” Jenny cried and jumped in front of the Doctor and Ariel, taking two bullets to the chest. The bullets meant for the Doctor and Ariel respectively.

“Jenny!” Ariel screamed.

The soldiers surrounding General Cobb forced his weapon out of his hands and shoved him to his knees.

The Doctor held Jenny is his arms on the ground while Ariel grabbed Jenny’s hand and held it tightly, taking rapid and shaky breaths as she stared down at the blood pouring out of the blonde’s chest.

“Jenny? Jenny. Talk to me, Jenny,” the Doctor pleaded, tears forming in his eyes as he rocked his daughter.

“Jenny, don’t do this,” Ariel begged. “Jenny, please.”

“Is she going to be alright?” Donna mumbled to Martha.

Martha just shook her head no. 

“A new world,” Jenny sniffled, tears streaming down her face as she smiled at Ariel and the Doctor, glancing up at the glowing gases. “It’s beautiful.”

“Jenny, be strong now. You need to hold on, do you hear me? We've got things to do, you and me, hey? Hey? We can go anywhere. Everywhere. You choose,” the Doctor smiled sadly down at her.

“That sounds good,” Jenny breathed, her voice growing strained.

“You're my daughter, and we've only just got started. You're going to be great. You're going to be more than great. You're going to be amazing. You hear me? Jenny?” The Doctor asked, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks.

Jenny’s strong grip on Ariel’s hand grew slack and her eyes fluttered shut.

Ariel fell back on the ground, her hands covering her mouth as silent tears streamed down her face. 

The Doctor rocked his daughter sadly, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he cried over her. “Two hearts. Two hearts. She's like me. If we wait. If we just wait,” he pleaded.

Donna helped Ariel to her feet and hugged her as the brunette sobbed into her chest.

“There's no sign, Doctor,” Martha shook her head. “There is no regeneration. She's like you, but maybe not enough,” Martha shrugged sadly.

“No,” the Doctor shook his head. “Too much. That's the truth of it. She was too much like me,” he muttered.

The Doctor laid Jenny on the ground and pressed a kiss to her forehead before marching to General Cobb.

Cline and another soldier were holding his arms, keeping him on his knees as the Doctor glared down at him. He picked up General Cobb’s pistol and with a shaky hand, tears still on his face, he pressed the gun to his head. He kept it pressed against General Cobb’s temple for a while and everyone in the garden seemed to be watching with bated breath.

He sighed and put the safety back on, not allowing himself to go that far. “I never would,” the Doctor spat at General Cobb. “Have you got that? I never would. When you start this new world, this world of Human and Hath, remember that. Make the foundation of this society a man who never would!” He announced loudly to both species.

They all stared up at him with some strange mixture of awe and shock. He sighed softly and marched over to Ariel.

They ran into each other’s arms and hugged one another tightly, crying over the girl they had both loved.

~~~

They brought Jenny back to the camp and laid a blanket down on one of the tables before placing her down on top of it.

The sunlight began to stream through the stained glass windows, kissing her face beautifully.

“It’s happening,” Martha smiled, staring at the fresh sunlight. “The terraforming.”

“Build a city, nice and safe underground, strip away the top soil and there it is,” Donna smirked. “And what about Jenny?” She asked, turning to the Hath and Clint standing by Jenny’s side.

“Let us give her a proper ceremony. I think it'd help us. Please,” Clint begged the Doctor. He took a deep breath and nodded, wrapping an arm around Ariel and pulling her close as she smiled sweetly as Jenny’s body.

~~~

They got back to the Tardis and the Doctor heaved a deep sigh as he stood by the console, numbly staring at it as he hugged Ariel close to his body, clinging to the one thing he wouldn’t let fade and flicker from him.

Martha and Donna stared at them both sadly, at a loss for how they could possibly express their condolences to two people who just seemed to lose everything.

“Jenny was the reason for the Tardis bringing us here,” the Doctor announced. “It just got here too soon, which then created Jenny in the first place. Paradox,” he sighed. “An endless paradox,” he mumbled before turning to Martha. “Time to go home?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Martha nodded. “Home,” she sighed.

The Doctor started up the Tardis and Martha realized that she had almost allowed herself to get lost in travelling with the Doctor again. It was so easy to lose yourself when you were around him, that memories of what you were leaving behind just seemed to disappear momentarily. 

She watched Ariel beam up at the Doctor and knowing the young girl didn’t have much back home made it a lot easier to understand how she could be so comfortable building a relationship with a man that never stays in one place too long. 

Ariel only had a single person to worry and think about back home, not a big family like Martha. She had the wonderful opportunity to lose herself in a life with the Doctor.

They landed and Martha smiled at them, saying her farewells to each of them and heading out.

“Hold on,” Donna said. “I’ll walk you there,” she told her.

Martha nodded and the two women headed out and down the street together. 

“Ah, we might as well go too,” the Doctor mumbled to Ariel and she nodded.

“Yeah,” Ariel sighed softly.

They headed outside and Ariel closed the door behind them. They walked up behind Martha and Donna and only stopped when the two women hugged and Donna headed back inside the Tardis.

Ariel followed Donna back to the Tardis, giving the Doctor a quick kiss before going back with the red-head.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Martha walked on.

“We’re making a habit of this,” the Doctor remarked with a small smirk.

“Yeah. And you'd think it'd get easier,” Martha sighed and the Doctor chuckled, nodding in agreement. Martha stopped walking and turned to him, taking a deep breath. “All those things you've been ready to die for. I thought for a moment there you'd finally found something worth living for. A real family. Ariel and Jenny could’ve been really good for you.”

“Oh, I still got something worth living for,” the Doctor assured her with a nod. He didn’t want to die and leave Ariel behind. Not when the start of something great was just beginning.

Martha smiled and hugged the Doctor.

“Bye, Doctor,” Martha said.

“Goodbye, Doctor Jones,” the Doctor grinned.

The Doctor headed back to the Tardis where Ariel was waiting for him just outside. 

He grinned and wrapped her in a strong hug that lifted her off her feet. Martha watched the exchange with a soft smile and glanced down at her engagement ring before heading back inside her own home.

~~~

Meanwhile, back at the camp. Cline and the Hath put a pillow under Jenny’s head. They put a sheet over her and were about to move it over her head with Jenny’s mouth fell open and a golden energy flowed from it. She gasped and her eyes opened making both Cline and the Hath jump back in surprise.

“Hello, boys,” Jenny grinned. She jumped off the table and took off running before Cline and the Hath could even process what was happening. 

When they did, they chased after her, unsure of where a woman just awoken from the dead might go.

“The shuttle,” Cline said with wide eyes as he heard engines whirring. He and the Hath ran forward and he pressed his finger on the comms to talk to Jenny. “Jenny? What’re you doing? Come back,” Cline requested, at a loss for how Jenny was even alive at that moment.

“Sorry,” Jenny sighed. “Can’t stop. What are you going to do? Tell my parents?” She chuckled.

“But where are you going?” Cline frowned.

“Oh, I’ve got the whole universe,” Jenny grinned, launching the shuttle into the sky. “Planets to save, civilisations to rescue, creatures to defeat, and an awful lot of running to do."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Jenny so much. I wish she had reappeared on the show. Even just a quick Christmas special where she bumped into the Doctor would've been amazing.


	22. A Murder, A Mystery, And Agatha Christie

That night, the Doctor wandered the Tardis aimlessly, unsure of where he was headed but allowing the Tardis to guide him along the way. As he walked through the corridor, he heard a faint distant sound that he couldn’t name. He frowned and walked closer, the noise growing louder as he did so. 

Eventually, he realized that what he heard was someone sobbing.  His eyes widened, his brain spitting out the only name that could be awake so early crying. 

The Tardis had guided him there for a reason.

He bolted to her door and knocked lightly. He heard the girl inside inhale sharply and sniffle loudly.

He walked inside slowly, the door creaking loudly to announce his presence in the dark room.

He flicked the light on and his hearts shattered at what he saw. 

Ariel was sitting on the ground, staring at him with watery eyes, pulling her hoodie, closer over her shirt. Her beautiful face was pinkened around her cheeks and her eyes were red, telling him she had been crying for a while.

The Doctor said nothing. He just closed the door behind him and sat down by her side, wrapping his arms around her. He didn’t know if she was crying for Jenny or Ross, or even both of them, but in that moment it didn’t matter.

She choked back a sob and placed her head on his chest, scooting closer to him as she cried endlessly into his shirt, clinging to it desperately. 

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and tightened his arms around her, rubbing her back as she cried.

There wasn’t much else he could do, but he knew from experience that just having somebody there by your side was better than crying all by yourself in the dark.

Eventually, she fell asleep in his arms from crying for so long. The Doctor sighed softly and tried to pull her away and put her back on her bed, but he found she was clinging to him so tightly, even in her sleep, that he couldn’t pull away. Instead of waking her up, the Doctor just took a deep breath and pulled a blanket from her bed. He wrapped it around the pair of them and got comfortable before falling asleep.

~~~

The next morning, Ariel stood by the Doctor’s side leaning over the console smiling softly. After their long night awake, the Doctor had woken up early, then let her sleep for a few more hours. When he did wake up, it was only because his body was getting stiff and he needed to get up. He had never dared to ask her what she was crying about. He knew she’d rather move on rather than dwell on everything she was sad about. It was easier that way. 

He was the same and was unwilling to push her. Instead, he made sure she was alright and ate breakfast with her, telling him about different planets he swore he would take her to and his different journeys on them.

Ariel was grateful for the Doctor not pressing her. It made her care for him even more. It was difficult for her to spend a whole night crying and then wake up only to be reminded of why she was crying, but he never reminded her. Her heart swelled at the very memory of how he took care of her, but never pressed her. They both knew if she wanted to talk that she would talk to him.

In truth, she had spent so long crying because she had found pictures of her and Ross together in her belongings. She had pushed the memories and emotions back, but with that one picture, the floodgates opened and it was all she could do not to scream in pain like she did in UNIT HQ when he died.

She glanced up at the Doctor with a sweet smile and scooted closer to him, bumping his side and giggling.

He was so perfect. She loved him more than she thought possible. He just hoped she felt the same about her.

Donna walked into the console room, yawning and narrowing her eyes at the couple who were both already dressed and laughing together.

“Blimey, do you two ever sleep,” Donna moaned.

Ariel laughed. “Good morning, Donna,” she hummed.

“Oh, shut it. Come back to me when I’ve had a decent cup of coffee because I, like normal human beings, don’t get up at the crack of dawn,” Donna mumbled bitterly.

Ariel giggled and turned to the Doctor. “So, where do you want to go today?” She asked.

“Ah, Donna chose the alien planet, Martha called us over, the Tardis chose Messaline,” the Doctor listed with a sigh. “I was thinking you might wanna choose.”

“Oh, I’ll choose the next one,” Ariel shrugged. “I wanna see what you would choose.”

The Doctor grinned. “Alright then,” he sighed. “It was rare when someone asked what he wanted to see.”

He started the Tardis and set it for the coordinates he had in mind. 

Ariel smiled. “I’ll go get Donna,” she nodded.

Ariel headed to the Tardis kitchen and got her friend, who made a fuss about not even being able to finish her coffee, but brightened when Ariel told her she’d have time to finish in a bit.

She got dressed and the Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand before they headed out, landed in a garden just across the street from a large house that appeared almost regal.

“Oh, smell that air,” the Doctor beamed, wrapping an arm around Ariel as he stepped forward and she just grinned up at him. “Grass and lemonade. And a little bit of mint. A hint of mint. It’s the nineteen twenties.”

“You can tell what year it is just by smelling?” Donna frowned.

The Doctor stared down at Ariel with wide eyes and she covered her laughter as he pretended that was totally the case.

“Oh yeah,” the Doctor nodded.

“Or maybe that big vintage car coming up the drive gave it away,” Donna guessed, pointing at the car rolling into the driveway of the house.

“Or the fact that I told him he should choose where we go next,” Ariel giggled. 

“Oi!” The Doctor said nudging her softly. “Spoilsport,” he mumbled.

Ariel and Donna just laughed as the Doctor pouted and Ariel sighed and wrapped her arms around him.

“You know I love you,” she mumbled.

The Doctor could only pout for a few minutes more before sighing and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I love you too,” he muttered.

“Oi, lovebirds!” Donna snapped. “If you had been paying attention, you would’ve noticed that the reverend over there just said there’s a party on.”

“Oh, how delightful,” the Doctor hummed as Ariel pressed her head against his chest.

“Never mind Planet Zog,” Donna sighed. “A party in the nineteen twenties, that's more like it,” she grinned.

“The trouble is, we haven't been invited,” the Doctor mumbled and Ariel glanced up at him with a small frown. He usually didn’t do invitations. He invited himself places. The Doctor smirked at her reaction and pulled out his psychic paper, flashing it to her. “Oh, I forgot. Yes, we have,” he beamed.

She giggled and grinned up at him.

“Right, well I’m gonna get changed,” Donna said. “I hardly doubt this old thing is proper for a party in the 1920’s,” she grinned before running into the Tardis.

Ariel giggled and turned to the Doctor. “I should probably be getting changed too,” she sighed.

“Right,” the Doctor nodded.

Ariel kissed him quickly before heading into the Tardis as well.

When Donna saw her, she sighed in relief. “Oh, thank God,” she mumbled. “I haven’t got any dresses proper for the 1920’s!” She exclaimed.

Ariel giggled. “Come on,” she said, gesturing to Donna to follow her. “I’m sure the Tardis is gonna have more than enough for us to wear.”

“Oh, right,” Donna frowned. “I forgot the Tardis has got a wardrobe.”

“Please, it was my lifeline when I first started travelling with the Doctor. I had no clothes except the ones off my back and you can’t exactly survive for two weeks with the same pair of clothes,” Ariel chuckled.

Donna laughed and they headed to the Tardis wardrobe. While Donna decided to change into a beaded dress, popular in that time period, Ariel changed into a simple purple dress with sleeves. The dress fell just above her knees so it couldn’t pose a problem. 

She curled her hair back so it looked ready for the 1920’s. She turned to Donna with a grin. “What do you think?” She smiled.

“I think you’re going to give that man a bloody heart attack,” Donna chuckled. 

Ariel laughed. “Good enough for the 1920’s though?”

Donna frowned. She turned around and narrowed her eyes at the wardrobe. She pulled out a fringed black wrap and draped it over Ariel’s shoulders. “There,” Donna smiled. “Perfect.” While it didn’t seem to do much, it saved her from showing up to the 1920’s in a dress that while it wasn’t revealing, even going all the way up to her neck, outlined her figure just a bit too much to be comfortable in an era such as the own they were about to walk out in. 

Ariel grinned. “Thanks,” she sighed. “I dunno what I’d do without you.”

“Oh, I dunno,” Donna sighed, grinned at the young girl. “You’d be lost now I know that for a fact,” she nodded.

Ariel chuckled and held out her arm to Donna. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” Donna smiled.

They headed out to the console room as the Doctor knocked loudly on the door. 

“We’ll be late for cocktails!” The Doctor called.

Donna rolled her eyes and turned to Ariel with a grin. “Best let me get him prepared,” she said.

Ariel chuckled and nodded, watching as Donna walked out, leaving the door open a crack for Ariel to hear.

“What do you think? Flapper or slapper?” Donna beamed, posing for the Doctor.

The Doctor watched her warily for a minute before folding into a grin and chuckling. “Flapper. You look lovely,” he told her happily. “Where’s Ariel?” He frowned at the Tardis.

“Oh, you better prepare yourself,” Donna smiled. “Ariel?” She prompted.

Ariel stepped out and smiled at the Doctor and he looked as though both his hearts had stopped beating.

“See? Look at that?” Donna smirked. “I told you.”

Ariel giggled and glanced up at the Doctor.

“You look-you’re beautiful,” the Doctor breathed.

Ariel’s cheeks pinked considerably and Donna noticed. Sparing the young girl the embarrassment, she took a deep breath. 

“Alright, you lot, let’s go get cocktails,” Donna snapped, grinning down at Ariel.

The Doctor and Ariel chuckled and the Doctor held out his arm to Ariel. She graciously took it and they headed on their way to the house.

They headed to the lawn and a short Indian woman donning a blank dress with short, curled black hair clapped all the servants to attention.

“Look sharp,” she snapped. “We have guests.”

“Good afternoon,” the Doctor grinned, waving to all of them.

“Hi,” Ariel smiled.

One of the servants ran up to them. “Drinks, sir? Ma’am?” He asked, glancing Ariel and Donna each respectively.

“Sidecar, please,” Donna requested.

“Erm, French 75?” Ariel asked.

“And a lime and soda,” the Doctor nodded. “Thank you,” he smiled.

The servant nodded and ran to get their drinks.

“I didn’t take you to be an orange liqueur person,” Ariel remarked at Donna’s drink of choice. 

“Oh, I love a good Sidecar,” Donna hummed. “It gives just the right amount of buzz when listening to Nerys talk about her second husband, but not too much so I don’t have to share a cab with her on the ride home.”

Ariel laughed and shook her head at her friend. She always loved how blunt she was.

“May I announce Lady Clemency Eddison,” one of the servants announced as a petite older woman with blonde hair pulled back in a dark blue dress walked towards them.

“Lady Eddison!” The Doctor exclaimed as though he and the woman had been friends their whole lives.

Lady Edison frowned at the trio curiously as she approached them. “Forgive me, but who exactly might you be, and what are you doing here?” She asked.

“I'm the Doctor. This is Miss Ariel Parsons, of the Winchester Parsons. And this is Miss Donna Noble, of the Chiswick Nobles,” the Doctor introduced, gesturing to each of them in turn.

Donna put on a posh accent and dropped a curtsy in front of Lady Eddison. “Good afternoon, my lady. Topping day, what? Spiffing. Top hole,” Donna grinned.

Ariel covered her mouth to hide her laughter while the Doctor pulled Donna to the side, tapping Ariel’s shoulder to silently tell her to take care of Lady Eddison.

“You should forgive my friend,” Ariel sighed. “She’s just spent a year in France. Picked up on some of their strange habits I suppose,” she shrugged.

“I’m sorry, but who are you people?” Lady Eddison frowned.

The Doctor walked back over and flashed his psychic paper. “We were thrilled to receive your invitation, my lady. We met at the Ambassador's reception,” the Doctor reminded her with a raised eyebrow.

There was a moment of silence in which the trio all watched Lady Eddison with bated breath.

Eventually, she sighed and grinned at them. “Doctor, how could I forget you? But one must be sure with the Unicorn on the loose,” Lady Eddison shrugged innocently, trying to act as though she hadn’t forgotten three of her guests.

“A unicorn?” The Doctor frowned, glancing around curiously. “Brilliant. Where?”

Ariel elbowed him in the ribs, never wavering in her grin at Lady Eddison. “I don’t think she meant an actual unicorn, love. Though I would love to see that,” she smirked.

“The Unicorn. The jewel thief? Nobody knows who he is. He's just struck again. Snatched Lady Babbington's pearls right from under her nose,” Lady Eddison reminded them with wide, horror struck eyes.

“Lady Babbington needs a new name or I’m gonna have a field day,” Ariel muttered under her breath and the Doctor snorted.

“Funny place to wear your pearls,” Donna mumbled and Ariel snickered.

Between the three of them, they were the exact opposite of what you would expect when you thought of noble and important individuals in 1920’s England.

The servant arrived and presented the trio with their drinks which they all accepted and sipped graciously.

“May I announce Colonel Hugh Curbishley, the Honourable Roger Curbishley,” a servant introduced as an older man was wheeled onto the lawns by his dark-haired song. 

“My husband, and my son,” Lady Eddison beamed, kissing Colonel Curbishley on the cheek and giving a quick hug to Roger.

“Forgive me for not rising. Never been the same ever since that flu epidemic back in eighteen,” Colonel Curbishley smiled kindly at the trio.

Roger walked up to Donna and Ariel and grinned at the pair. “My word, you are super ladies.”

Ariel giggled as the Doctor’s eyes flared while Donna just blushed and held out her hand for Roger to kiss politely.

“Oh, I like the cut of your jib. Chin, chin,” Donna chuckled.

Ariel rolled her eyes and grinned at the red-head. 

“Hello,” the Doctor nodded. “I’m the Doctor and this is my girlfriend Ariel,” he said, gesturing to Ariel.

“Oh, my apologies. I didn’t know she was taken,” Roger frowned. “No matter. How do you do?”

“Very well,” the Doctor smiled politely.

“You’re so jealous,” Ariel grinned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Doctor mumbled awkwardly, nearly chugging his drink.

Ariel giggled and looped her arm through his, resting her head on his shoulder. “I think it’s cute,” she muttered.

The Doctor smirked and held her hand.

One of the servants approached Roger and held out a tray with a drink on it. “Your usual, sir?” He prompted.

“Ah. Thank you, Davenport. Just how I like it,” Roger smirked at the man and he seemed to grow flustered and stepped back.

Donna frowned at Lady Eddison and her husband and son. “How come she's an Eddison, but her husband and son are Curbishleys?” Donna wondered.

“The Eddison title descends through her. One day Roger will be a lord,” the Doctor muttered.

“Robina Redmond,” the servant announced and a fashionable young woman walked in, grinning at the party.

“She's the absolute hit of the social scene,” Lady Eddison told them with wide eyes, ecstatic that the woman had shown up to her party. “A must,” she insisted. “Miss Redmond,” Lady Eddison smiled kindly at the woman with short curled dark hair.

“Spiffing to meet you at last, my lady,” Robina grinned. “What super fun.”

“Reverend Arnold Golightly,” the servant announced as a blonde, middle-aged man walked forward with a smile.

“Ah, Reverend,” Lady Eddison sighed. “How are you? I heard about the church last Thursday night. Those ruffians breaking in.”

Ariel snorted. “Ruffians?” She echoed.

“I know right?” Donna chuckled. “And he told me off for speaking wrong.”

“You apprehended them, I hear,” Colonel Curbishley nodded.

“That skinny little man apprehending some young, fit teenagers?” Ariel raised an eyebrow. “Okay, something’s off.”

“You’re telling me,” the Doctor mumbled. “I’ve heard of Robina Redmond and I can say right now she doesn’t talk anything like that.”

“As the Christian Fathers taught me, we must forgive them their trespasses. Quite literally,” Reverend Arnold said.

“Some of these young boys deserve a decent thrashing,” Roger said, holding up his glass at the thought.

“Couldn’t agree more, sir,” the servant Davenport said, staring at Roger as though he were silently pleading with his eyes for the dark-haired man to give him that exact treatment.

Ariel snorted. “Could they be more obvious?” She mumbled.

“Typical,” Donna sighed. “All the decent men are on the other bus.”

“Or Time Lords,” the Doctor frowned, feeling slightly insulted that she hadn’t included him in that equation.

Ariel giggled and turned to face the Doctor, grinning up at him. “I’m sure she meant you too, love,” she said. 

The Doctor smiled and kissed her sweetly. Ariel smiled as she tasted the lime on his lips and felt his fingertips delicately brushing her back. Everytime his lips met hers, she felt the she was flying, no matter if it was just a quick kiss or something they both allowed to deepen. Every single one tasted like luxury. 

She pulled away with a soft sigh and when her eyes fluttered open, she found the Doctor’s beautiful brown eyes swirling beautifully down at her. She smiled softly at him and turned so she could face the party. 

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She rejoiced in how safe she felt in his arms. It felt as though no harm or danger could ever lay a finger. She was invincible while his arms were around her.

The Doctor sighed as he pulled Ariel as close as possible. He felt almost greedily happy. Ever since Ariel had pressed her lips against it, he felt like he was on cloud nine. It was almost unfair. He had spent years after Rose thinking he was unworthy of anything good because he would just screw it up, but with Ariel it felt like he was getting a second chance. It felt like all the pieces were finally falling into place and he was getting a shot at a happy ending.

“Now, my lady. What about this special guest you promised us?” Roger asked, smirking at his mother.

“Here she is,” Lady Eddison waved to a woman walking onto the lawn as they spoke. “A lady who needs no introduction,” she smiled.

A blonde woman seeming to be somewhere in her thirties, donning a blue dress and orange beads around her neck was embarrassed by the applause that followed her presence.

“No, no, please, don't. Thank you, Lady Eddison. Honestly, there's no need,” She sighed, grinning at the party before turning to the trio. “Agatha Christie,” she said, holding out a hand.

“What about her?” Donna said.

“That’s me,” the woman shrugged.

“No way,” Ariel gasped, her eyes widening as she stared at the lady.

“No,” Donna breathed. “You’re kidding!”

“Agatha Christie!” The Doctor exclaimed, shoving his drink into Ariel’s hands and using both hands to shake just on of hers. “I was just talking about you the other day. I said, I bet she's brilliant. I'm the Doctor. This is Ariel and this is Donna. Oh, I love your stuff. What a mind. You fool me every time. Well, almost every time. Well, once or twice. Well, once. But it was a good once,” he nodded, grinning wildly.

“Don’t shove your drink on me,” Ariel frowned, shoving the drink back into the Doctor’s hands. “I don’t mind holding it, but it got on my dress,” she grumbled.

“It’s Agatha Christie!” The Doctor cried, gesturing wildly to the woman before them.

“Yes, I see that, but now I have the smell of lime on me for the rest of the day?!” Ariel exclaimed, giggling as she looked up at the Doctor acting like a mad fan in front of his favorite author.

Agatha chuckled. “You make a rather unusual couple,” she remarked, glancing at the pair.

“How did you know we were a couple?” Ariel frowned as Donna helped her get the soda out of her dress.

“Besides, the sight of your proximity to each other?” Agatha smiled. “It’s clear in the way you look at each other. I quite remember that feeling,” she nodded.

“Oh, you don’t miss a trick,” the Doctor beamed.

“However, no wedding ring,” Agatha remarked. “I'd stay that way if I were you. The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture,” she grinned.

Donna eventually got the stain out of Ariel’s dress for her and Ariel grinned at the red-head.

“Thank you so much,” Ariel sighed. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh, not a problem,” Donna shook her head, smiling at Ariel. “That dress is too good to let go to waste.”

Ariel giggled and the Doctor turned back to them, still appearing flabbergasted.

“We just met Agatha Christie!” He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Ariel tightly and hugging her from behind.

“Yes, I know,” Ariel laughed. “You are such a fanatic,” she sighed, turning in his arms. “And a liar. I know for a fact she’s gotten you at least three times.”

“Oh, hush,” the Doctor sighed, spinning Ariel back around. “What she doesn’t know,” he hummed.

“Mrs Christie, I'm so glad you could come,” Lady Eddison sighed. “I'm one of your greatest followers. I've read all six of your books. Er, is, er, Mister Christie not joining us?” She frowned, peering behind Agatha as if her husband would just magically appear.

“Is he needed?” Agatha shrugged. “Can't a woman make her own way in the world?”

“Don’t give my wife ideas,” Colonel Curbishley chuckled.

“Now Mrs Christie, I have a question. Why a Belgian detective?” Roger wondered, walking up to the author’s side.

Ariel frowned. “Is it just me or is something off about Agatha?” She said. 

The Doctor nodded. “You’re not wrong. Something does seem a bit odd,” he mumbled. “I’ll be just a mo,” he said, holding up a finger as he headed over to the Colonel’s wheelchair.

“Excuse me, Colonel,” the Doctor mumbled as he grabbed the paper off of the man’s lap and unfolded it.

“Belgians make such lovely buns,” Agatha shrugged simply.

The Doctor gestured for Ariel and Donna to come over and they shared a worried glance but walked over to his side.

“I say, where on Earth's Professor Peach? He'd love to meet Mrs Christie,” Roger remarked, staring out at the lawn and frowning when he didn’t see Professor Peach.

“Said he was going to the library,” Reverend Arnold shrugged.

“Miss Chandrakala, would you go and collect the Professor?” Lady Eddison asked the short Indian woman politely. 

“At once, milady,” Miss Chandrakala nodded.

She left the party and the Doctor pointed to the date. “The date on this newspaper,” he mumbled.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed. She remembered learning about that exact date in her Literature class. 

Her teacher had called it one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in literature. That was the day everyone had actually listened to what he was saying for the sheer thrill of it.

“What?” Donna frowned. “What about it?”

“It's the day Agatha Christie disappeared,” the Doctor mumbled.

“She went missing for eleven days,” Ariel nodded. “It was one of the biggest search parties in history. More than a thousand policemen were put on the case.”

The Doctor nodded. “She'd just discovered her husband was having an affair,” he said.

“You’d never think to look at her,” Donna muttered, glancing at Agatha laughing with Lady Eddison. 

“Well, she's British and moneyed. That's what they do. They carry on,” the Doctor shrugged. “Except for this one time. No one knows exactly what happened.”

“Though the press spouted loads of theories. I think one even involved ghosts,” Ariel frowned.  
“Well, that’s a bit odd,” Donna remarked

“Nobody knew what to think. She just vanished. Her car will be found tomorrow morning by the side of a lake. Ten days later, Agatha Christie turns up in a hotel in Harrogate. Said she'd lost her memory. She never spoke about the disappearance till the day she died, but whatever it was,” the Doctor sighed.

“It’s about to happen,” Donna breathed.

“Right here, right now,” the Doctor nodded.

Just then, there was a high-pitched scream from just behind them. The whole party turned to see Miss Chandrakala looking frantic, wildly gesturing to the house.

“Professor! The library! Murder! Murder!” Miss Chandrakala cried.

The trio all glanced at each other with wide eyes before running into the house and pushing past the servant as they bolted to the body laying face down on the floor. Agatha quickly shoved inside after tham and glanced down at the body on the floor. The back of the man on the floor’s head had been hit and had bloody pouring out of a small wound.

“He was hit on the head with something, it looks small,” Ariel frowned, kneeling down beside the body with the Doctor right by her side. 

“Watch broke as he fell. Time of death was quarter past four,” the Doctor announced, pulling on his little brown glasses. He moved to the desk and began searching through the papers while Ariel went to the other side and began looking through the Professor’s notebook.

“A bit of pipe. Call me Hercules Poirot, but I reckon that's blunt enough,” Donna mumbled, kneeling on the ground and picking up the pipe.

Ariel’s eyes widened as she spotted Agatha picking up a burnt piece of paper in the fireplace. She nodded to the Doctor and he nodded in response, confirming he had seen it. She narrowed her eyes and frowned, a silent question of what could possibly be so important that Agatha would keep it to herself and hide it from them. The Doctor simply shrugged.

The Doctor sighed softly and turned away from the desk. “Nothing worth killing for in that lot,” he muttered. “Dry as dust.”

“So, why kill around the party. The body was bound to be discovered quickly. The killer would have to be incredibly quick, confident or both,” Ariel frowned. “They would’ve probably shown up to the party late so they can make sure they were suitable and not noticeably shaken from the murder and their attire didn’t wear the stains of a murder,” Ariel concluded.

“Marvelous deduction skills,” Agatha remarked.

Ariel’s eyes widened and her heart momentarily stopped beating. “Thank you,” she breathed. “I read a lot of detective novels,” she shrugged before turning to the Doctor with wide eyes. “Agatha Christie just said my deduction skills are marvelous,” she rambled in a whisper to the Doctor.

“I know,” the Doctor grinned. “That’s like getting a compliment from Sir Arthur Doyle about being a great detective!” He exclaimed, but all in a hushed tone so Agatha couldn’t hear.

“I’ve suddenly forgotten how to breathe,” Ariel giggled.

She loved that she could have mini freak outs with the Doctor over the famous people they met in history. It was yet another thing that brought them so close, they never got embarrassed or angry with each other because they knew everything about each other.

Save for Ariel’s two biggest secrets.

“Hold on,” Donna frowned, walking up to the couple and standing by their side. “ _ The Body In The Library _ ?” She prompted with a small smirk. “I mean, Professor Peach, in the library, with the lead piping?” She implored.

“I know, I know,” the Doctor nodded, grinning wildly at Ariel, ecstatic that the reality of being in the presence of Agatha Christie was beginning to sink in on Ariel.

The other guests forced their way in to see the body. 

“Let me see,” Lady Eddison insisted.

“Out of my way,” Colonel Curbishley snapped.

“Oh, here come the posh,” Ariel muttered and the Doctor chuckled as Donna snickered.

“Gerald?” Lady Eddison gasped.

“Saints preserve us,” Reverend Arnold breathed.

“Oh how awful,” Robina moaned.

“Someone should call the police,” Agatha insisted.

“You don't have to,” the Doctor said, pulling his psychic paper out and flashing it to the party. “Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor. Miss Parsons and Miss Noble are the plucky young girls who help me out.”

Donna shot him a glare which Ariel just snickered. She knew women really started become proper policewomen in the 1950s. Her history teacher had been more than happy to remind the class of where women fell short throughout history. The whole class had assumed she had a grudge against every single man in history.

“But didn’t you say you and her were together?” Roger frowned, gesturing to the Doctor and Ariel.  
“Yes, well, we are together,” the Doctor nodded with a small frown.  
Roger held up his hands in defense. “Don’t mind me, sir. Far be it for me to pass judgment.”  
“I say,” Lady Eddison gasped.

Needless to say it wasn’t exactly natural to be so open about dating coworkers in the 1920’s and both Ariel and the Doctor knew it as they shared a grin. That didn’t mean for a second they were going to deny the fact that they were together just so Ariel could get in on the full investigation. Neither of them were willing to claim they weren’t dating, no matter how important it might be.

“Mrs Christie was right,” the Doctor nodded. “Go into the sitting room. We will question each of you in turn,” he said.

“Come along,” Agatha instructed, guiding the party out of the room. “Do as the Doctor says. Leave the room undisturbed.”

Once they left and Agatha had closed the door behind her, Donna rounded on the Doctor.

“The plucky young girls who help me out?!” Donna snapped.

“No policewomen in 1926,” the Doctor mumbled as he knelt down by the body.

“I’ll pluck you in a minute,” Donna muttered.

Ariel just knelt down by the Doctor’s side and smirked at him. “You could’ve denied we were together, you know. I wouldn’t have hated you for it I mean we are in the 1920’s,” Ariel nodded.

“Oh, I would never,” the Doctor sighed. He pulled Ariel close to his chest and pressed a kiss to her head. “You mean everything to me,” he breathed. 

Ariel pulled away and smiled at him. She thought there must be some kind of law against feeling as happy as she did when she looked into the Doctor’s eyes. She pulled him in for a sweet kiss and pulled away with a sigh. “I love you, you bloody idiot.”

The Doctor grinned. “I love you, too.”

“Oi, lovers, why don’t we just call the police?” Donna wondered, snapping her fingers to bring them back to reality and out of the daze they appeared to be in when they stared into each other’s eyes.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at something glinting on the floor as the light hit it.

He nodded Ariel’s focus to it and grabbed a pencil off the desk and broke it. Ariel moved closer to the strange sight and the Doctor fell onto his stomach, picking at the liquid on the floor and narrowing his eyes.

“Well the last thing we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in,” the Doctor sighed.

“Oh, I loved Noddy!” Ariel exclaimed with a grin and the Doctor smirked up at her.

“Especially now I've found this,” the Doctor said, holding up the sticky substance as he stood up. He helped Ariel to her feet and Donna walked to their side, narrowing his eyes at it. 

“It looks a bit like beeswax,” Ariel remarked and Donna nodded.

“Morphic residue,” the Doctor sighed.

“Morphic?” Donna frowned. “Doesn’t sound very 1926.”

“What is it?” Ariel wondered. “I mean like what is it from?”

“It's left behind when certain species genetically re-encode,” the Doctor replied, frowning at substance. “I need to keep this somewhere,” he mumbled.

“On it,” Ariel nodded. She glanced behind her at the fireplace and found a small testing tube. She handed it to the Doctor and knelt down beside to look through the burnt papers.

“So, the murderer’s an alien?” Donna prompted.

“Which means one of that lot is an alien in human form,” the Doctor breathed.

“Oh, brilliant!” Ariel exclaimed. “I’ve always wanted to see a shapeshifter,” she sighed. “When I was a kid I went through this phase where I told my mum I was a werewolf,” Ariel shrugged. “I grew out of it, but still,” she muttered. “I was a weird kid.”

The Doctor just chuckled and shook his head as he plugged the test tube. “What are you doing?” He frowned.

“Looking at the fireplace where she took the papers from,” Ariel said and frowned as she realized how odd she must look if he didn’t think that was what she was doing. “Did you seriously just ask that?” Ariel asked with wide eyes. “What does it look like I’m doing just rubbing my hand in the ashes?” She giggled.

“Oh, don’t get cheeky,” the Doctor moaned.’

“You’re the one being daft,” Ariel laughed. “Anyway, it looks like there were a bunch of papers tossed on here. Whoever Professor Peach was, he knew well enough to hide his research. So whoever murdered him knew what he was doing before they killed him.”

“Marvellous deduction skills, Miss Parsons,” the Doctor said, his voice becoming extremely posh as he spoke to her.

“Why, thank you, Mister Smith,” Ariel grinned, speaking with a posh voice as well. She giggled and stood up, draping her arms over his shoulders and grinning up at him. 

The Doctor beamed at her and kissed her quickly.

“Think about it,” Donna sighed, walking over to the couple who looked at her at the sound of her speaking, but didn’t dare move out of each other’s arms. “There's a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie,” Donna hummed.

“So?” The Doctor frowned. “Happens to me all the time,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Honestly, he’s right,” Ariel nodded.

“No, but isn't that a bit weird?” Donna frowned. “Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders. Not really. I mean, that's like meeting Charles Dickens and he's surrounded by ghosts at Christmas.”

“Well,” the Doctor said, taking a deep breath.

Ariel frowned. “You told me the Gelth weren’t ghosts.”

“You’ve met Charles Dickens surrounded by ghosts on Christmas?!” Donna exclaimed.

“Sort of,” the Doctor shrugged. “Ariel’s right, they weren’t ghosts per say,” he muttered.

“Oh, come on!” Donna cried. “It's not like we could drive across country and find Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy,” she scoffed, but froze when she saw the Doctor looking hesitant at her statement. “Could we? Noddy's not real. Is he? Tell me there's no Noddy,” Donna implored.

“Oh, I’d love to have tea with Noddy,” Ariel giggled. “That’d be brilliant.”

The Doctor glanced at Donna with a smirk. “There’s no Noddy,” he promised.

He pulled his arms away from Ariel’s waist with a sigh and grabbed her hand as they headed out.

“The thing is, I only like two of her books before 1926,” Ariel muttered. “I loved  _ The Murder at the Vicarage _ and  _ Murder on the Orient Express _ ,” she grinned.

“Ah, she’s had some good ones by now.  _ The Secret of Chimneys _ ? _ Poirot Investigates _ ?” The Doctor prompted.

“Oh, of course you would be a Poirot fan,” Ariel moaned.

“Why? Who do you like?” The Doctor frowned.

“I like Mary Debenham!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Well, then I could say the same about you,” the Doctor hummed, a playful grin dancing on his lips.

Ariel rolled her eyes and laughed. 

“Oh, you lot are just so fine with all of this,” Donna sighed. “First you’re telling me you’ve met Charles Dickens with ghosts, next thing you know, you'll be telling me it's like  _ Murder On The Orient Express, _ and they all did it,” Donna said.

“ _ Murder on the Orient Express _ ?” Agatha frowned, appearing out of nowhere as they turned the corner. 

“Ooo, yeah, Donna nodded. “One of your best,” she smiled.

“But not yet,” the Doctor said with wide eyes.

“Marvellous idea, though,” Agatha hummed.

“Yeah,” Donna grinned. “Tell you what. Copyright Donna Noble, okay?” She nodded.

“Donna!” Ariel laughed.

“Anyway,” the Doctor sighed. “Agatha, Ariel, and I will question the suspects. Donna, you search the bedrooms. Look for clues,” he instructed. He leant forward and spoke so only Ariel and Donna could hear him. “Any more residue,” he nodded.

“You’ll need this,” the Doctor sighed, pulling a large cartoonish magnifying glass out of his suit and handing it to her.

Donna held it with wide eyes, genuinely looking like she questioned whether or not he was messing with her. “Is that for real?” She asked, nodding to the large magnifying glass.

“Go on,” the Doctor waved the magnifying glass toward her. “You’re ever so plucky,” he smirked.

Donna took the magnifying glass from him, genuinely looking like she planned to give the Doctor a piece of her mind. Ariel snickered as she saw the magnifying glass made the beads around her neck look bulbous. Donna shot Ariel the same look she gave the Doctor and ran upstairs.

The Doctor turned to Agatha with a large grin. “Right then. Solving a murder mystery with Agatha Christie. Brilliant.”

“How like a man to have fun while there's disaster all around him,” Agatha remarked.

Ariel snorted and covered her mouth with wide eyes as she stared at Agatha. She never thought Agatha would be so sassy in person.

“Sorry, yeah,” the Doctor mumbled with a nod, staring down at his feet like a child that had just gotten told off. His smile had evaporated the second she turned on him.

“I'll work with you, gladly, but for the sake of justice, not your own amusement,” Agatha sneered.

“Yeah,” the Doctor muttered.

Agatha headed into the sitting room while Ariel walked around to face the Doctor and draped her arms over his shoulder. 

“Oh, poor Doctor,” Ariel pouted, she gave him a quick to help him feel a bit better before taking a deep breath. “You should never meet your heroes,” she sighed. She grabbed his hand and opened the door. “Come on then, let’s solve the murder mystery with Agatha Christie,” she said and the Doctor grinned at her.

They decided to conduct individual interviews and Agatha pulled out a pen and pad of paper to take notes while Ariel sat in a chair and the Doctor leant on the fireplace right by her side, and as Agatha noted, as close as two people could possibly get while still being separated by a chair and height.

Though Agatha was fully aware of the worrisome scenario, she made a note of their relationship. It could be a good basis for characters in the future.

The first suspect entered the room. Reverend Arnold. He took a seat in the chair in front of the trio and the Doctor took a deep breath.

“Now then, Reverend. Where were you at a quarter past four?” The Doctor asked.

“Let me think. Why yes, I remember. I was unpacking in my room,” Reverend Arnold nodded.

“No alibi, then,” the Doctor sighed.

“You were alone?” Agatha clarified.

“With the Lord, one is never truly alone,” Reverend Arnold smiled and Ariel groaned softly. 

That was just his clever way of saying he didn’t have an alibi. She’d much rather people were adamant about everything when they’re dealing with a murder.

“Reverend, did you see Professor Peach before you came inside?” Ariel asked. “Did you ever talk to him?”

“Yes, he said he was going to the library. I told him his work will be the death of him,” the Reverend smiled fondly at the thought.

“Alright, thanks,” Ariel smiled. “Doctor?” She prompted.

“Next!” The Doctor cried loudly.

Ariel jumped and Agatha seemed to be wildly startled clenching her chest as she breathed deeply. 

Ariel laughed and slapped him playfully on the arm. “You are such an arse!” She exclaimed. 

The Doctor grinned, chuckling as he stepped forward and kissed Ariel’s head. 

Ariel rolled her eyes and pulled his tie down so his lips met hers. His eyes widened but fluttered shut as she kissed him properly, but before either of them could deepen it, Agatha cleared her throat and gestured to Roger sitting awkwardly across from them.

The Doctor cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. “Right,” the Doctor breathed and Ariel smirked knowingly at him, leaning back in her chair as the Doctor tried to think straight once again. “And where were you at a quarter past four?” He asked.

“Let me think. I was. Oh, yes. I was taking a constitutional in the fields behind the house. Just taking a stroll, that's all,” Roger shrugged awkwardly, loosening the tie around his neck.

“Alone?” The Doctor prompted.

“Oh, yes, all alone. Totally alone. Absolutely alone. Completely. All of the time. I wandered lonely as the proverbial cloud. There was no one else with me. Not at all. Not ever,” Roger rambled.

“Okay, so to put a stop to whatever the hell is going on here,” Ariel sighed, waving her hand towards Roger’s awkward demeanor. “Did you talk to Professor Peach before you obviously saw his body?”

“No,” Roger frowned. “I don’t believe I got the chance to.”

Ariel nodded and she saw Agatha make a note on her pad. 

“Alright, send the next one in!” Ariel called, much quieter than the Doctor.

Roger walked out one door and Robina walked in the other. 

She sat down in the seat with a sigh and smirked at Ariel. The brunette pinkened and looked down at her lap.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the action and glared at Robina. “And where were you?” The Doctor snapped.

“At a quarter past four. Well, I went to the toilet when I arrived, and then er. Oh, yes, I remember. I was preparing myself,” Robina nodded. “Positively buzzing with excitement about the party and the super fun of meeting Lady Eddy,” she smiled.

“We’ve only got your word for it,” the Doctor frowned.

“That’s your problem, not mine,” Robina shrugged.

“One more thing, did you talk to or meet Professor Peach before you saw him on the floor?” Ariel asked. 

“I don’t believe I had the pleasure,” Robina sighed. 

Ariel nodded and Agatha made a note. 

“Next!” Ariel called. 

Robina walked out the door to their left and Roger wheeled his father in from the door to their right.

Roger situated his father just before the chair they had all sat on and smiled politely at the trio before walking out.

“And where were you, sir?” The Doctor asked.

“Quarter past four? Dear me, let me think. Ah, yes, I remember. I was in me study, reading through some military memoirs. Fascinating stuff,” Colonel Curbishley hummed and Ariel snickered as she watched his scoot around in his chair, displaying the same level of antsiness Roger had shown when they asked if he was alone. She knew that look all too well after spending time with teenage boys. He was probably reading porn. 

Ariel looked up at the Doctor and they exchanged a knowing amused smirk.

“Took me back to my days in the army. Started reminiscing. Mafeking, you know. Terrible war,” Colonel Curbishley sighed. His eyes began to grow glassy and the Doctor frowned at him.

“Colonel, snap out of iti!” The Doctor snapped.

The Colonel seemed to be taken aback but nodded nervously and tried to get situated in his chair once again. “Right, I was in my study-.”

“No, no, no. Right out of it,” the Doctor insisted.

“Oh, sorry,” Colonel Curbishley sighed. “Got a bit carried away there,” he mumbled.

“Colonel, did you talk to Professor Peach before you greeted us?” Ariel asked.

“Er, yes, I saw him on his way to the library. He said he was going to do a bit of research before the party,” Colonel Curbishley said.

Ariel nodded. “Right, thank you,” she smiled. Ariel got out of her seat and wheeled the Colonel out of the room where his son retrieved him with a grateful nod.

Ariel headed back inside as Lady Eddison walked in and both women took their seats. 

“And where were you at a quarter past four, my lady?” The Doctor asked.

“Now, let me see. Yes, I remember. I was sitting in the Blue Room, taking my afternoon tea,” Lady Eddison nodded. “It's a ritual of mine. I needed to gather strength for the duty of hostess. I then proceeded to the lawn where I met you, Doctor, and I said, who exactly might you be and what are you doing here? And you said, I am the Doctor, this is Miss Ariel Parsons and this is Miss Donna Noble,” Lady Eddison rambled on.

“Yes, yes,” the Doctor nodded, holding up a hand. “You can stop now. I was there for that bit,” he reminded her.

“Of course,” Lady Eddison hiccupped. She held a handkerchief to her mouth. “Excuse me,” she breathed.

“Right, Lady Eddison, did you happen to greet Professor Peach after leaving the blue room?” Ariel asked.

“Now, that you mention it,” Lady Eddison frowned. “Yes, I did see him. I only got the chance to get a few words in before he apologized and said he needed to visit the library.”

“Right,” Ariel nodded. “Thank you,” she smiled.

Lady Eddison nodded and walked out without another word.

The Doctor sighed and immediately turned to Ariel. “What do you think?” He mumbled, kneeling down by her side. 

“Well, only three of them knew where Professor Peach was going but the other two could be lying,” Ariel shrugged. “Nobody looked exactly comfortable with the answers they gave.”

“And no alibis for any of them,” Agatha hummed. “ _ The Secret Adversary _ remains hidden. We must look for a motive. Use ze little grey cells,” she muttered.

Ariel and the Doctor grinned at her. 

“Ah, Tommy and Tuppence,” Ariel sighed happily. 

“Oh, yes, little grey cells,” the Doctor nodded. “Good old Poirot,” he grinned. “You know, I've been to Belgium. Yeah. I remember I was deep in the Ardennes, trying to find Charlemagne. He'd been kidnapped by an insane computer.”

He lost himself in the memory and Ariel jumped up and whispered in the Doctor’s ear asking if she could meet Charlemagne. He chuckled and nodded, hugging her from behind and turning back to Agatha with a dazed grin.

“Charlemagne lived centuries ago,” Agatha frowned at the couple.

“I’ve got a very good memory,” the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly and Ariel laughed.

“For such an experienced detective, you missed a big clue,” Agatha told him with a raised eyebrow.

“What, that bit of paper you nicked out the fire?” The Doctor scoffed. 

“Then, tried to hide away,” Ariel nodded.

“You were looking the other way,” Agatha smirked, slightly impressed by the couple.

“Yeah, but I saw you reflected in the glass of the bookcase,” the Doctor shrugged. “And the lovely Miss Parsons clued me in on it,” he smiled, placing his chin on Ariel’s head.

“Neither of you spoke a word,” Agatha frowned.

“We don’t need to speak aloud,” Ariel scoffed. “I watch everything he isn’t and say everything he doesn’t and vice versa.”

“You two make a great pair,” Agatha smiled sadly, remembering when her own marriage had been the same way. “And you are a crafty man,” Agatha remarked with a nod towards the Doctor who just beamed at her. Agatha pulled out the small bit of paper and showed it to them.

The Doctor pulled away from Ariel and grabbed her hand, using the other to take the parchment from Agatha. He narrowed his eyes at it and Ariel frowned down at it. 

The charred fragment said aiden, and there was a letter at the beginning of the word that could’ve been an M or N.

“What's that first letter? N or M?” The Doctor asked.

“It's an M. The word is maiden,” Agatha said. 

“Maiden!” The Doctor shouted, making Agatha jump while Ariel just stood unfazed as she took the parchment from Agatha and frowned down at it.

Agatha stared at her in confusion and Ariel shrugged. “You get used to it,” Ariel sighed. “Whenever he realizes something it’s even more common,” she nodded.

“What does that mean?” The Doctor wondered. 

“We're still no further forward. Our  _ Nemesis _ remains at large. Unless Miss Noble's found something,” Agatha sighed.

“Oh, yeah,” Ariel nodded. “We should probably check on Donna.”

“Let’s go,” the Doctor said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along, not stopping for a second. 

Ariel handed the parchment to Agatha with a laugh before falling into a run alongside the Doctor. 

“Doctor!” Donna’s desperate voice echoed down the corridor.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and his grip on Ariel’s hand tightened as he ran faster.

They arrived breathlessly as Donna’s eyes were fixated on the door, wide and horror filled.

“It’s a giant wasp,” Donna gasped.

“What do you mean, a giant wasp?” The Doctor frowned. 

“It’s only a silly little insect,” Agatha scoffed. 

“When I say giant, I don't mean big, I mean flipping enormous! Look at its sting!” Donna cried, pointing down at the stinger still stuck in the door. 

It was about the length of a forearm.

Ariel’s eyes widened. “Oh, bloody hell,” she breathed.

“See?!” Donna exclaimed.

The Doctor knelt down and put his brown glasses on as he narrowed his eyes at the stinger. He inspected it for a moment before standing up with a sigh. “Let me see,” he murmured.

They headed into a dimly lit room. A room that looked as though it had not been touched and especially not cleaned for years.

The Doctor spotted a window with all the glass shattered around it. He peered out at it and sighed. 

 

“It’s gone,” the Doctor muttered. “Buzzed off.”

Ariel rolled her eyes. “You just had to, didn’t you?” She grinned. 

“You know I did,” the Doctor beamed at her.

Agatha knelt down beside the large stinger with wide eyes. “But that’s fascinating,” she sighed. She started to put her finger on it and the Doctor bolted forward, swatting her hand away. 

“Don't touch it. Don't touch it,” the Doctor snapped. “Let me,” he sighed. He pulled out the pencil from earlier and the test tube. He scooped the liquid off the stinger and dumped it into the test tube.

“So, the shapeshifter we’re looking for is a-,” Ariel began.

“Giant wasp,” the Doctor nodded. 

“Ah, well it’s not so bad,” Ariel sighed. “At least we’re not hunting down a giant cockroach,” she shivered. “I hate those things. Still,” she shrugged. “Given the chance I would have wished for a giant butterfly.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Well, tons of amorphous insectivorous lifeforms, but none in this galactic vector,” he muttered.

“I think I understood some of those words,” Agatha hummed. “Enough to know that you're completely potty. The pair of you,” she insisted, glancing at the Doctor and Ariel who just grinned at her.

“Lost its sting, though. That makes it defenceless,” Donna shrugged.

“Oh, a creature this size?” The Doctor sighed. “Got to be able to grow a new one,” he shrugged.

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Donna mumbled.

“Yeah,” Ariel chuckled. “Tell me about it.”

“Can we return to sanity?” Agatha requested. “There are no such things as giant wasps.”

“Oh, never say never ever, Agatha Christie,” Ariel grinned. “The Doctor taught me that.”

The Doctor smiled and stood up, wrapping an arm around Ariel as he sighed. “So. The question is, what's it doing here?” The Doctor wondered.

Just then, a high-pitched scream was heard from just outside. 

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he grabbed Ariel’s hand. An instinct at that point.

They four of them all bolted outside to find Miss Chandrakala laying on the ground with a large stone gargoyle on her body.

They all knelt down by her side and Ariel held her hand as the woman gasped for air. 

“The poor little child,” Miss Chandrakala breathed before her eyes fluttered shut and she died by their side. 

In the distance, they heard a faint buzzing that steadily grew closer. They all turned curiously to see the giant wasp Donna had told them about flying nearby them.

“There!” The Doctor cried.

“Of all the things,” Ariel sighed. It was moments like those when she really wished for a giant butterfly.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand. “Come on!” The Doctor yelled and the four of them started to chase after it.

They bolted after the wasp as Agatha and Donna followed, chasing him into the house and up the stairs. 

“Hey, this makes a change,” Donna remarked. “There's a monster, and we're chasing it.”

Ariel chuckled, looking over her shoulder and nodding at Donna gleefully.

“It can't be a monster,” Agatha reasoned. “It's a trick.  _ They Do It With Mirrors _ .”

They reached the top of the steps when Ariel and the Doctor ducked down as the wasp tried to jab them with his newly regrown stinger.

The Doctor covered Ariel’s head and she winced at the large insect while Agatha stared up at it with wide eyes. 

“By all that’s holy,” Agatha gasped.

When the wasp flew backwards a bit and the Doctor grinned up at him. “Oh, but you are wonderful,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel giggled. He was able to find beauty in everything they encountered. It was a fantastic trait to have and Ariel loved him so much more for it. The wasp slowly started to fly towards them again and the Doctor’s eyes widened. “Now, just stop,” he warned. “Stop there.”

The wasp lunged at them and scratched the wall with its stinger. They all ducked down except for Donna who stood up and held up the magnifying glass confidently. 

“Oi, fly boy!” Donna shouted.

Donna aimed the magnifying glass at him and he retreated, flying around the corner down the corridor.

The Doctor scrambled up to his feet and pulled Ariel along with him as he ran after the wasp. “Don't let it get away!” He yelled. “Quick, before it reverts back to human form!” He cried as they all turned the corner to find each door along the corridor closed and no sight or sound of the wasp. “Where are you? Come on. There's nowhere to run,” the Doctor hummed. “Show yourself!” He shouted.

Just then, every door along the corridor opened and someone different stepped out from each other. Ariel snickered when she saw Roger and Davenport in the same room.

Each person holding the door open looked a different level of horrified or alarmed at the Doctor’s outburst.

The Doctor sighed deeply and raked his fingers through his hair. “Oh, that’s just cheating.” He mumbled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, but I totally think Robina would at least be bi. I love speculating the backstories of secondhand characters. This chapter is really long because if I'm honest I can't wait for you guys to see when she meets River. Spoiler, there are a lot of vague descriptions of what Ariel does in the future.
> 
> Also! I say in here that Agatha is using the Doctor and Ariel's relationship for future characters. She uses it for Jane Grey and Norman Gale because those are the two characters in a relationship in the book the Doctor shows Donna "Death in the Clouds"


	23. Who Dunnit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything italicized is an Agatha Christie novel. The writer of this episode is my favorite writer for Doctor Who, he wrote The Shakespeare Code, this, The Lodger and Closing Time.

“My faithful companion,” Lady Eddison sobbed. “This is terrible.”

“Excuse me, my lady, but she was on her way to tell you something,” Davenport frowned.

“She never found me,” Lady Eddison shook her head. “She had an appointment with death instead,” she sighed.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look. Posh people in the 1920’s were very dramatic.

“She said, the poor little child. Does that mean anything to anyone?” The Doctor asked, glancing around the room for any reactions.

“No children in this house for years,” Colonel Curbishley said. “Highly unlikely there will be,” he muttered, glaring at Roger and Davenport.

“Blimey, 1920’s,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor chuckled and nodded with wide eyes. 

“Mrs Christie, you must have twigged something. You've written simply the best detective stories,” Lady Eddison insisted.

“Tell us, what would Poirot do?” Reverend Arnold asked.

Ariel rolled her eyes as the Doctor grinned at the Reverend. She thought Poirot was a good character, in fact, he would be her favorite if she didn’t admire the incredible female characters in Agatha’s stories.

“Heaven’s sake.  _ Cards On The Table _ , woman,” Colonel Curbishley snapped. “You should be helping us.”

“But I’m merely a writer,” Agatha shrugged. 

“But surely you can crack it,” Robina insisted. “These events, they're exactly like one of your plots.”

“That's what I've been saying,” Donna sighed. “Agatha, that's got to mean something.”

“Alright, alright,” Ariel breathed. “Let’s stop overwhelming the poor woman,” Ariel said. “Agatha, if you have any ideas you’re more than welcome to share them, but if not you’ll be treated just as everyone else here is. Innocent until proven guilty,” she nodded.

“I've no answers,” Agatha sighed. “None. I'm sorry, all of you. I'm truly sorry, but I've failed. If anyone can help us, then it's the Doctor and Miss Parsons, not me,” she shook her head.

Ariel glanced up at the Doctor with sad eyes and he simply shrugged and waved her to his side. She walked up to him and placed her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her. He knew she felt bad about not being able to help Agatha, but there wasn’t much else they could do for the blonde.

Agatha walked out and Donna cast a wary glance at the Doctor and Ariel before running out after her.

“Alright, now you can all head off to your rooms,” the Doctor said. “I’m sure dinner should be a fascinating time,” he muttered.

Everyone got up and headed to their rooms and the Doctor and Ariel took a seat on the sofa. 

“Do you ever go anywhere without something bad happening?” Ariel wondered.

The Doctor chuckled. “Why, starting to get tired of it?” He asked. “I know I am,” he sighed.

“No, you’re not,” Ariel scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You love it.”

The Doctor grinned. “Yeah,” he beamed. “But do you? Because I can always drop you at home for a bit and give you some time away.”

“Oh, I could never stay away,” Ariel said, leaning back in the sofa and smiling at the Doctor. “You’re an addiction, you are.” An addiction that Ariel planned to ride out for as long as possible. She knew they didn’t have forever, but she would still latch onto all the time she could get.

The Doctor chuckled and brushed back her hair, cupping her cheek delicately. “I could say the same about you.”

“No, you can’t,” Ariel smiled. “I’m not like you. I don’t have this great big universe and all the stars in the sky to show people. I’m ordinary,” she giggled.

“You are the stars,” the Doctor said softly.

Ariel’s smile fell and her jaw dropped as she stared at the Doctor. Nobody had ever said anything like that to her before in her life.

She leant forward and pressed her lips against his, slowly at first, cautious. He pressed into her further, and she tangled her hands through his wild brown hair. 

They got caught up in the moment, completely losing themselves in each other and forgetting about the world around them, kissing like drowning people breathe. They kissed like they had suddenly discovered something so sweet that had never been so sweet before that moment.

He deepened the kiss and she felt as though she was drunk with his very presence. He was everywhere, invading her every sense. His kisses tasted like lime. His hair beneath her fingers felt soft and smooth. She could feel the side of the sofa pressing into her back as he pushed her into it. He was everything.

Ariel began to wonder if maybe he was it. While she knew she couldn’t die with him, she wondered if he was the end of all the endings. He was the end of all the goodbyes. All late nights lying awake, desperately praying for a returned love. All  the tear stained cheeks. 

Their love mended both of their broken bones. Broken from years of fighting and screaming and always losing. For once, they finally got the chance to win.

Then, all too soon, they were drawn back to reality when the door clicked open. The Doctor pulled away, but not quick enough for the person behind the door to see what they were doing.

“Okay!” Donna exclaimed. “We will come in when you are decent!” She snapped at them like they were children.

Agatha frowned at Donna. “What are they doing?”

“Trust me Mrs Christie, there are some things you don’t want to investigate,” Donna sighed.

Ariel giggled and swung open the door, smirking at the two women. “You can come in.”

Donna took a deep breath and marched inside toting a small box in her hands.

“Agatha found this outside in the garden,” Donna announced, holding up the box and glancing at the couple, turning to each.

“Put it on the table,” Ariel nodded, closing the door behind them.

She ran over to the Doctor and he wrapped and arm around her, pressing a kiss to her temple before pulling open the case

The case was stocked full of lock-picking tools and the Doctor pulled each layer of it open to reveal more and more tools. “Ooo,” the Doctor said. “Someone came here tooled up. The sort of stuff a thief would use.”

“The Unicorn,” Agatha gasped. “He’s here.”

“The Unicorn and the wasp,” the Doctor mumbled, falling back into one of the chairs.

“Quite the party,” Ariel remarked with a smirk and the Doctor chuckled and nodded.

The servant entered the room and had a tray with four drinks on it. “Your drinks, ladies,” he said, holding the tray out to the women.

“Oh, actually can I try a Mary Pickford?” Ariel asked. “I’ve always meant to try it but mum had a distaste for it so I kind of just assumed I would hate it too,” she shrugged.

He nodded and turned to the Doctor. “Doctor?” He prompted, holding out his drink.

“Very good, Greeves,” the Doctor smiled.

Greeves nodded and walked out with Ariel’s French 75, unbeknownst to all of them, leaving with a drink laced with cyanide. 

“How about the science stuff. What did you find?” Donna asked. “Y’know, when you weren’t snogging the life out of Ariel,” Donna reminded him.

“Donna!” Ariel exclaimed, her cheeks reddening.

“Oh, I worked that out after we saw the wasp change back so quickly,” the Doctor nodded. “It was a Vespiform sting. Vespiforms have got hives in the Silfrax galaxy,” he explained, twirling the test tube filled with the liquid they had found from the stinger.

“Again, you talk like Edward Lear,” Agatha nodded.

“How pleasant to know Mr. Lear! Who has written such volumes of stuff! Some think him ill-tempered and queer, But a few think him pleasant enough,” Ariel quoted with a grin. The Doctor just beamed at her. She was so brilliant. He couldn’t believe the universe had allowed him to be so lucky.

The Doctor turned back to Agatha with a sigh. “For some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books,” he frowned.

“Come on, Agatha,” Donna sighed. “What would Miss Marple do?” She asked. 

“Now, we know who Donna loves most,” Ariel smirked at the Doctor and he chuckled and nodded.

Donna ignored them, learning to tune out their little odd comments to each other by then. “She'd have overheard something vital by now, because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady,” Donna nodded.

“Clever idea,” Agatha hummed.

“Wait, hold on, who’s Miss Marple?” Ariel wondered. “Because if we’re going with stereotypes on age here it’s Lady Eddison.”

“Miss Marple?” Agatha frowned. “Who writes those?” She asked.

“Er, copyright Donna Noble. Add it to the list,” Donna nodded, grinning at the blonde.

“Ariel,” the Doctor breathed.

“Oh, no need to call in defences. We can split copyright,” Donna shrugged with a playful smirk.

“No. Something's inhibiting my enzymes,” the Doctor muttered. Ariel’s eyes widened and she bolted forward, catching the Doctor just as he doubled over and clenched one of his hearts. “Argh!” He cried. “I've been poisoned.”

“What do we do? What do we do?” Donna asked desperately.

Agatha grabbed his drink and sniffed it. “Bitter almonds,” she mumbled. “It’s cyanide,” she announced to the trio.

“ _ Sparkling Cyanide _ ,” Ariel breathed with wide eyes.

“I’d appreciate the irony right now, but get me to the kitchen!” The Doctor roared.

“Donna, you grab his right side,” Ariel instructed. Donna nodded. “Okay, come on Doctor. Hang in there!” She cried. The women lifted him out of his chair and Agatha followed them, carrying the Doctor’s drink so she could dump it out.

They carried him to the kitchen and once they arrived, the Doctor staggered inside and grabbed Davenport roughly. “Ginger beer!” He cried.

“I beg your pardon,” Davenport frowned at him.

Ariel just jumped up to the cupboards and started scanning for ginger beer. 

“They’ve gone mad!” One of the maids exclaimed.

“Doctor!”  Ariel cried. She tossed him the ginger beer and he chugged it. He spat out the surplus in the sink.

“I'm an expert in poisons. Doctor, there's no cure. It's fatal,” Agatha sighed.

“Not for me,” the Doctor gasped. “I can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal. Protein. I need protein.”

Donna held up a jar of walnuts. “Walnuts?” She prompted with a smirk. 

“Brilliant,” the Doctor grinned. 

He flung open the jar and dumped the walnuts into his mouth, filling his mouth with them. He began mimicking what he needed to the women.

“I can't understand you. How many words? One. One word. Shake. Milk shake. Milk? Milk? No, not milk? Shake, shake, shake. Cocktail shaker. What do you want, a Harvey Wallbanger?” Donna guessed.

“Harvey Wallbanger?!” The Doctor exclaimed. 

“Donna, that hasn’t even been invented yet!” Ariel cried.

“Well, I don’t know!” Donna yelled. “You do this! The pair of you are practically psychically linked anyway,” she sighed, shoving the brunette in front of her.

The Doctor chewed on the walnuts and mimicked again for her.

“Salt!” Ariel exclaimed within barely a second. “Get him something salty!” She shouted. 

The women immediately began scrambling for something salty.

“What about this?” Donna asked, holding up a brown bag. 

“What’s that?” Ariel frowned. For the moment, she spoke for the Doctor as he continued to fight back against the poison. He shot various expressions her way and she spoke through them.

“Salt,” Donna sighed.

“What? No, that’s too salty,” Ariel shook her head.

“Oh, that’s too salty,” Donna moaned, mimicking the young brunette as she turned around and scanned the kitchen for something else.

“What about this?” Agatha asked, holding up a jar of something new.

“What’s that?” Ariel asked.

“Anchovies,” Agatha said. 

Ariel turned to the Doctor and raised an eyebrow. He nodded furiously and stretched out his hands like a small child for the anchovies.

Agatha tossed it to him and he tore off the lid and dumped the anchovies into his mouth, filling his mouth with them.

Ariel turned away momentarily and Donna was left to play the guessing game again as the Doctor mimicked to her.

“What is it? What else? It's a song? Mammy? I don't know. Camptown Races?” Donna guessed.

“Camptown Races?” The Doctor gasped, choking slightly on the anchovies. 

“Well, all right then, Towering Inferno,” Donna snapped and dragged Ariel over to face the Doctor, holding her in place furiously so she could watch the man.

“It’s a shock. He needs a shock. Something to get his heart racing,” Ariel said within mere seconds.

“Right then,” Donna nodded. “Big shock coming up,” she said, taking a deep breath and stepping toward the Doctor. “Sorry, Ariel,” Donna mumbled before pulling to Doctor towards her by his tie and pressing his lips against hers.

“Oh, my God!” Ariel exclaimed, her eyes widening at the sight she never thought she’d live to see.

When Donna released the Doctor, he staggered backwards and a long stream of smoke blew from his mouth.

Once it was done, the Doctor immediately marched over to Ariel and kissed her long and hard, wrapping his arm around her waist and bending her backwards as he cupped her cheek delicately.

Donna chuckled as she watched them. That man couldn’t go for two seconds feeling like he may have cheated on Ariel.

He pulled away with a sigh of relief and turned back to the other two women, brushing his hair out of his face. “Detox,” the Doctor sighed. “Oh my. I must do that more often,” he said. At Donna’s flabbergasted expression, he shifted awkwardly. “I mean, the detox,” he mumbled.

“Doctor, you are impossible,” Agatha gasped. “Who are you?”

“Ah, isn’t that the question of his life?” Ariel chuckled.

The Doctor tossed her a wink and grabbed Ariel’s hand and they were about to head out when Agatha froze beside the drink that was destined to be Ariel’s still sat on the counter. She knelt down and sniffed it. Her eyes widened.

“Bitter almonds,” Agatha mumbled. “Miss Parsons, I am sorry, but it seems your drink had cyanide in it as well,” she said.

Ariel’s heart stopped and the Doctor dropped her hand as he marched over to the drink to confirm it for himself. 

He clenched his jaw as he smelled the bitter almonds. “Right. It’s one thing to poison my drink, but now they’ve gone too far,” the Doctor mumbled.

He marched to Ariel and gripped her hand, dragging her out of the kitchen furiously. 

“What are we doing?’ Ariel frowned. 

“We’re going to catch a wasp,” the Doctor muttered.

~~~

Night fell, and thunder and lightning crashed overhead. The hosts and guests sat around the table on the soup course. There was a vase of  _ Yellow Irises _ sitting at the center of the table.

“A terrible day for all of us,” the Doctor sighed, shooting daggers at everyone around the table. One of them had tried to poison Ariel “The Professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala taken cruelly from us, and yet we still take dinner,” he hummed.

“We are British, Doctor. What else must we do?” Lady Eddison asked innocently with a small shrug.

“And then someone tried to poison Ariel,” the Doctor nodded, ignoring Lady Eddison as he watched out for any small look that might give it away. “Any one of you had the chance to put cyanide in her drink,” he said. “But it rather gave me an idea,” he sighed.

“And what would that be?” Reverend Arnold wondered.

“Well, poison,” the Doctor shrugged. “Drink up,” the Doctor smiled.

Around the table, several spoons clattered as they fell to their bowls. The Doctor and Ariel continued to have their soup, both knowing full well that for once they were safe from any harm.

He had sat with her for hours, trying to work out just how he could bring out the wasp and give him hell. Originally, in his anger at the fact that someone had tried to take Ariel from him, he was ready to sit everyone from the party down and interrogate them for hours, not giving any care to their other affairs. 

Ariel talked him down from it. She didn’t want any drastic measures when she technically hadn’t been poisoned. She was in shock at the very attempt, but it was less scary to her than what she had face. There was something more terrifying about an immediate or open death that was staring her in the face rather than something as silent as poison. She was more afraid of a bullet than something in her drink.

Together, she and the Doctor worked out a way to force the wasp to become a wasp again. The Doctor eventually mentioned pepper and they both decided that was the perfect way to keep everyone else safe and just bring out the wasp.

“I’ve laced the soup with pepper,” the Doctor told all of them.

While most of the party stared at him in horror, the Colonel just shovelled soup into his mouth, shrugging as he drank it. “Ah, I thought it was jolly spicy,” he remarked and Ariel snickered.

“But the active ingredient of pepper is piperine, traditionally used as an insecticide. So, anyone got the shivers?” The Doctor smirked knowingly at the party.

As if on cue, there was a crash of thunder and the windows blew open, extinguishing the candles in the room.

A loud buzzing filled the room and Ariel inhaled sharply.

“What the deuce is that?”  Colonel Curbishley frowned.

“Listen, listen, listen, listen,” the Doctor hissed, pressing a finger to his lips.

The buzzing neared Lady Eddison and she gasped loudly. “It can’t be,” she breathed.

“Show yourself, demon,” Agatha ordered, standing up in the presence of the wasp. She was furious with the creature. It had killed for no reason and tried to murder two brilliant minds she had come to admire.

Lighting flickered before entering the room and wasp was at the center of it all. 

Chaos ensued. 

Everyone ran through the room screaming and panicking, desperately trying to escape.

“Out, out, out, out, out, out!” The Doctor yelled. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and guided her into a small alcove outside the dining room where Donna was already panting after running inside with the butler.

Agatha bolted inside after them and the Doctor pulled a sword from the wall behind them.

“Well, we know the butler didn’t do it,” Donna sighed.

“Nice divergence from literally every detective novel,” Ariel hummed and the Doctor smirked and nodded. 

“Then who did?” The Doctor sighed.

He started to march out to the dining room and Ariel grabbed his arm. “How many times do you need me to say it?” Ariel smiled. “We’re in this together.”

The Doctor grinned and took her hand before heading out to the dining room. 

They peered around and it seemed as though everyone was still there. Ariel spotted the Colonel in the corner with his wheelchair overturned.

She ran to his side and helped him back into the chair.

“Thank you, my dear,” Colonel Curbishley sighed.

“My jewellry. The Firestone, it's gone. Stolen,” Lady Eddison gasped, her hand on her chest as she felt for the absent necklace.

“Roger,” Davenport said shakily, fighting back tears as he looked down at the man he loved.

Robina screamed loudly as just across the table from her, Roger laid with his face in the soup bowl and a knife in his back.

“My son. My child,” Lady Eddison sobbed.

~~~

Ariel, the Doctor and Agatha all sat in the drawing when Donna entered with a sigh.

“That poor footman,” Donna mumbled. “Roger's dead and he can't even mourn him. 1926? It's more like the dark ages.”

“Did you enquire after the necklace?” Agatha asked

“Lady Eddison bought it back from India,” Donna nodded, seeming a bit irritated that Agatha wasn’t more concerned about the footman. “It's worth thousands.”

“This thing can sting, it can fly,” the Doctor hissed. “It could wipe us all out in seconds. Why is it playing this game?” He wondered.

“Maybe, it’s to watch us?” Ariel guessed. “To figure out what each of us wants?”

“She’s right,” Agatha nodded. “Every murder is essentially the same. They are committed because somebody wants something.”

“Yeah, what does a Vespiform want?” The Doctor mumbled.

“Doctor, stop it,” Agatha snapped. “The murderer is as human as you or I.”

Ariel snickered. That was a vague way of saying the murderer was alien. If he was as human as the Doctor.

Ariel frowned at Agatha for a moment. The blonde woman seemed to working out far more than what was capable or some ordinary author. She had talent and even if Agatha didn’t believe she had did, they had to be able to learn something from her. After all, she was able to work out what the Doctor and Ariel had been poisoned with by just smelling it.

“Have I ever mentioned, you’re really good at this? Because you’re extremely talented when it comes to being a detective,” Ariel remarked and the Doctor’s eyes widened.

“You're right,” the Doctor hummed, jumped to the seat on the sofa across from Agatha. “Ah, I've been so caught up with giant wasps that I've forgotten. You're the expert,” he nodded.

“I'm not. I told you. I'm just a purveyor of nonsense,” Agatha mumbled bitterly.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best. And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand. You've lived, you've fought, you've had your heart broken. You know about people. Their passions, their hope, and despair, and anger. All of those tiny, huge things that can turn the most ordinary person into a killer. Just think, Agatha. If anyone can solve this, it's you,” the Doctor assured her.

There was a clap of thunder as Agatha took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright,” she breathed. “I’ll do it.”

The Doctor grinned widely at Ariel, both thinking about the same thing: they were about to witness the great Agatha Christie in action.

“Right, I’ll go call everyone here,” the Doctor sighed.

He did exactly that and everyone gathered in the drawing room for the traditional denouement.

“I've called you here on this  _ Endless Night _ , because we have a murderer in our midst,” the Doctor hummed, standing before the party. “And when it comes to detection, there's none finer. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Agatha Christie,” he gestured to the woman and went to take a seat beside Ariel.

“This is  _ A Crooked House _ ,” Agatha sighed. “A house of secrets. To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you, Miss Redmond,” she said, turning to Robina.

“But I’m innocent, surely?” Robina reasoned.

“You've never met these people, and these people have never met you. I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her,” Agatha snapped.

“How silly,” Robina chuckled. “What proof do you have?”

“You said you’d been to the toilet,” Agatha reminded her.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel gasped with wide eyes. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized it earlier.

“Oh, I know this,” Donna grinned. She ate grapes from the table beside her like she was eating popcorn and watching a detective film. “If she was really posh, she'd say loo,” Donna said, wincing as she even said the word.

Ariel snickered. She loved how much Donna’s personality opposed all posh people. It was very entertaining.

“Earlier today, Miss Noble and I found this on the lawn, right beneath your bathroom window,”  Agatha said, holding up the small case they had found. “You must have heard that Miss Noble was searching the bedrooms, so you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence.”

“I’ve never seen that thing before in my life,” Robina insisted, shrugging away from Agatha.

“What’s inside it?” Lady Eddison breathed.

“The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond,” Agatha said, opening the case and revealing the lock-picking tools. “Or should I say, the Unicorn. You came to this house with one sole intention. To steal the Firestone,” she snapped.

Robina took a deep breath and stood up, glaring at the party and falling back into her cockney accent. “Oh, alright then. It's a fair cop. Yes, I'm the bleeding Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think. I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it. Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me. Sling me in jail,” she sighed. She pulled out the firestone and tossed it to Ariel.

Ariel smirked and flashed the jewellry to the Doctor.

“So, is she the murderer?” Donna asked.

“Oh, no, she can’t be,” Ariel shook her head. “She could’ve killed Lady Eddison to get to the firestone, but she didn’t. She’s only a thief,” Ariel shrugged.

“Yeah, don't be so thick,” she snapped. “I might be a thief, but, well, I ain't no killer,” she shrugged.

She took her seat once again and Agatha nodded in agreement.

“Quite,” Agatha sighed. “There are darker motives at work. And in examining this household, we come to you, Colonel,” she said, gesturing to the man in the wheelchair.

“Damn it, woman!” Colonel Curbishley exclaimed. “You with your perspicacity. You've rumbled me,” he sighed before standing up.

Ariel and the Doctor’s eyes both widened as they exchanged a look of pure shock at the Colonel’s sudden ability to walk.

“Hugh, you can walk,” Lady Eddison gasped. “But why?”

“My darling, how else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?” Colonel Curbishley sighed, cupping his wife’s cheek and smiling softly at her.

“I don’t understand,” Lady Eddison mumbled.

“You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency. Sooner or later some chap will turn your head,” Colonel Curbishley sighed. “I couldn't bear that,” he said, shaking his head. “Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you.”

“Aw, that’s sort of sweet,” Ariel smiled. “In a weird way,” she mumbled. The Doctor chuckled and nodded. There were certainly better ways of showing the woman you loved that you didn’t want her to leave your side. 

“Confound it, Mrs Christie, how did you discover the truth?” Colonel Curbishley wondered.

“Er, actually I had no idea,” Agatha frowned. “I was just going to say you're completely innocent,” she shrugged.

“Oh,” Colonel Curbishley sighed. “Oh,” he mumbled.

“Sorry,” Agatha muttered.

“Well. Well, shall I sit down then?” Colonel Curbishley asked, glancing around the room awkwardly.

“I think you better had,” Agatha winced, gesturing to the wheelchair he had been sitting in.

“So, he’s not the murderer,” Donna concluded.

Ariel snorted when she spotted her best friend still chewing grapes as though they were popcorn. She acted like she was in a cinema and it was extremely entertaining.

“Indeed, not,” Agatha nodded. “To find the truth, let's return to this.” She walked up to Ariel and grabbed the firestone, holding it up so the party could see. “Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire. The Firestone has quite a history. Lady Eddison,” she nodded to the older woman.

“I’ve done nothing,” Lady Eddison gasped.

“You brought it back from India, did you not? Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria, and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been kept locked ever since, which I rather think means-,” Agatha explained and the trio watched Lady Eddison with wide eyes, on the edges of their seat as the next secret was unravelled.

“Stop, please,” Lady Eddison begged.

“I'm so sorry. But you had fallen pregnant in India. Unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid later to become housekeeper. Miss Chandrakala,” Agatha nodded.

“Clemency, is this true?” Colonel Curbishley asked with wide eyes.

“Blimey, this is like reality TV in the twenties,” Ariel mumbled and Donna snickered and nodded.

“My poor baby,” Lady Eddison sighed. “I had to give him away. The shame of it.”

“But you never said a word,” Colonel Curbishley muttered.

“In her defense, he never told her he could walk so technically they’re even,” Ariel mumbled to Donna.

“I dunno,” Donna shrugged. “I’m waiting to see what that Reverend is hiding,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the man. 

“Oh, you’ll love it,” the Doctor grinned.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she gestured for the Doctor to whisper it in her ear. She couldn’t wait until he announced it to the party.

“I knew there was something off about him,” Ariel breathed

“I had no choice,” Lady Eddison shook her head. “Imagine the scandal. The family name. I'm British. I carry on,” she shrugged, sipping her alcohol.

“And it was no ordinary pregnancy,” the Doctor nodded.

“How can you know that?” Lady Eddison gasped.

“Excuse me Agatha, this is my territory,” the Doctor said, jumping up from his seat and narrowing his eyes at Lady Eddison. “But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, it can't be.”

“Yeah, and you said that when you could see the wasp,” Ariel reminded her.

“Now, why did you say that?” The Doctor wondered, already knowing the answer.

“You’d never believe it,” Lady Eddison muttered.

Ariel scoffed. “Try us,” she said.

“The Doctor has opened my mind to believe many things,” Agatha nodded.

Lady Eddison glanced around warily and seeing everyone was more than willing to hear her out. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “It was forty years ago, in the heat of Delhi, late one night. I was alone, and that's when I saw it. A dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back. And in return he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us. This was his true shape. It was the same as the wasp in the dining area. I loved him so much, it didn't matter,” she shrugged. “But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the great monsoon. The river Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was Taken At The Flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift. A jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I kept it close, always,” she said, glancing back at the firestone.

“Just like a man,” Robina scoffed. “Flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven.”

“With no support,” Ariel added with nod. Robina nodded in agreement.

“A poor little child,” Agatha sighed. “Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate,” she said.

“That was in the fire!” Ariel exclaimed, beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle into place.

“Oh, that's maiden!” Donna cried, remembering the word from the bit of parchment. “Maiden name.”

“Precisely,” Agatha nodded.

“So she killed him?” Donna guessed.

“I did not,” Lady Eddison gasped.

“Miss Chandrakala feared that the Professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you,” Agatha informed her and Lady Eddison looked horrified as she realized.

“So she killed her?” Donna nodded, desperate to get to the conclusion.

“I did not!” Lady Eddison exclaimed.

“No, Donna,” Ariel giggled. “Lady Eddison didn’t kill anybody.”

“Lady Eddison is innocent,” Agatha nodded. “Because at this point, Doctor,” Agatha prompted, turning to the man who grinned at his summons.

“Thank you,” the Doctor nodded. “At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets, and the key to these events, then we have to consider it was you, Donna Noble,” the Doctor said, spinning around and pointing at the red-head who had her mouth stuffed full of grapes.

“What?” Donna frowned. “Who did I kill?”

Ariel snorted. “You didn’t kill anybody.”

“No,” the Doctor agreed. “But you said it all along,” he nodded. “The vital clue. This whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery, which means it was you, Agatha Christie,” the Doctor said, pointing a finger at the author.

Agatha stared up at the man with wide eyes. “I beg your pardon, sir?” She prompted.

Ariel rolled her eyes and chuckled, standing up and wrapping an arm around the Doctor’s waist. “You’ve gotta forgive him. He’s got a taste for the dramatics.”

The Doctor grinned and kissed Ariel’s forehead. 

“So, did she kill them?” Donna asked.

“No. But she wrote. She wrote those brilliant, clever books. And who's her greatest admirer?  _ The Moving Finger _ points at you, Lady Eddison,” the Doctor said, spinning and pointing at the lady in question.

“Oh, leave me alone,” Lady Eddison sobbed.

“We’re very sorry, my lady,” Ariel nodded.

“So she did kill them?” Donna guessed.

“No,” the Doctor shook his head. “But just think. Last Thursday night, what were you doing?” He asked.

“I was I was in the library. I was reading my favourite Agatha Christie, thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be. How is that relevant?” Lady Eddison wondered.

“Just think,” the Doctor insisted. “What else happened on Thursday night?” He asked, turning to the Reverend.

“I’m sorry?” Reverend Arnold frowned. 

“You said on the lawn, this afternoon,” the Doctor nodded. “Last Thursday night, those boys broke into your church,” he reminded him.

“That's correct. They did,” the Reverend nodded awkwardly. “I discovered the two of them. Thieves in the night. I was most perturbed. But I apprehended them,” he said, smiling softly up at the Doctor and Ariel.

“Really? A man of God against two strong lads?” The Doctor frowned. “Because it all leads back to you, Ariel,” the Doctor said, spinning around and pointing a finger at his girlfriend.

“Oh, what did I do?” Ariel frowned.

“Did she murder them?” Donna gasped with wide eyes.

“No,” the Doctor shook his head. “But you said out on the lawn,” he reminded her with a nod. “You couldn’t believe that an older man like Reverend Arnold could apprehend two young, strong teenagers dead set on thievery, and you were right. How old did you think he was again?”

“Late thirties?” Ariel guessed. “Early forties? Looking at him now, I’d probably say forties,” she nodded.

“Well, now, how’s that?” The Doctor sighed. “A man in his forties apprehending two strong teenagers? Or, should I say forty years old, exactly?”

“Oh, my God,” Lady Eddison gasped.

“Lady Eddison, your child, how old would he be now?” The Doctor prompted. 

“Forty,” Lady Eddison breathed. “He’s forty,” she nodded.

“Your child has come home,” the Doctor said, smiling softly.

“Oh, this is poppycock,” Reverend Arnold chuckled nervously.

“Oh?” The Doctor said, simply raising an eyebrow. “You said you were taught by the Christian Fathers, meaning you were raised in an orphanage,” he reminded him.

“My son,” Lady Eddison breathed. “Can it be?”

“You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry. A proper, deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock. You changed. You realised your inheritance. After all these years, you knew who you were. Oh, and then it all kicks off, because this isn't just a jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You've killed, in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is. It turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha,” the Doctor sighed, taking a seat beside the author.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she gestured wildly to him that he was wrong.

“Dame?” Agatha frowned.

The Doctor’s eyes widened as he took notice of Ariel. “Oh,” the Doctor cleared his throat nervously. “Sorry, not yet,” he mumbled, bouncing back up to Ariel’s side.

“You’re usually on top of that sort of stuff,” Ariel frowned. 

“What can I say? I had a long night,” the Doctor said softly, wrapping his arms around her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“So, wait, he killed them right?” Donna prompted. “Definitely?”

“Yes,” the Doctor nodded.

“The Reverend killed the Professor and Miss Chandrakala and tried to poison the Doctor and I,” Ariel concluded.

“Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening. Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Edizzon,” Reverend Arnold buzzed.

“Lady who?” The Doctor prompted with a small smirk.

“Lady Edizzzzon,” Reverend Arnold tried again.

“Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar,” the Doctor hummed.

“Don’t make me angry,” Reverend Arnold snapped.

“Why?” The Doctor wondered. “What happens then?”

“Yeah, what will you do if we make you angry,” Ariel asked and Reverend Arnold scoffed.

“Damn it, you humanzz, worshipping your tribal sky godzz. I am so much more. That night, the universe exploded in my mind. I wanted to take what wazz mine. And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezz, what'z to stop me killing you?” Reverend Arnold yelled as a purple light began to encompass his figure.

“Oh, my dear God. My child,” Lady Eddison sobbed, pouring all of the regret onto herself.

“What'zz to stop me killing you all?” Reverend Arnold snapped, shaking wildly before transforming into the wasp.

“Forgive me,” Lady Eddison begged, running up to the wasp and holding out her arms as though to hug him while he was a giant insect.

“No, no, Clemency, come back!” Colonel Curbishley cried, grabbing his wife’s arms and pulling her to the corner of the room to keep her away. “Keep away. Keep away, my darling,” he instructed.

“No!” Agatha exclaimed, holding up the firestone. “No more murder. If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature.”

Agatha ran out of the room and the trio all exchanged looks of shock and horror before running out after her.

“Wait, now it’s chasing us!” Donna cried as they ran down the corridor and heard the loud buzzing.

“Better us than Agatha!” Ariel yelled.

They darted out and Donna stepped back as the Doctor and Ariel shut the main door to hopefully buy them some time before the wasp came out.

Agatha drove by them and hooted the horn as the wasp came smashing through the door.

“Over here!” Agatha called. “Come and get me, Reverend.”

“Agatha, what are you doing?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“If I started this, Doctor, then I must stop it,” Agatha insisted.

“But you can’t!” Ariel cried.

“I must, Miss Parsons,” Agatha said before driving off. The wasp hesitated but followed her and the Doctor sighed and grabbed Ariel’s hand.

“Come on,” the Doctor muttered and they ran off in the opposite direction to borrow one of the cars.

The Doctor crawled into the driver’s seat and they took off following the wasp and Agatha.

“We have to catch her before it kills her or she kills herself to try and stop it,” Ariel said with wide eyes.

“Hold on, but you said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory,” Donna reminded them.

“Time is in flux, Donna. For all we know, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life and history gets changed,” the Doctor sighed, desperately trying to force the old car to move faster.

“But where’s she going?” Donna frowned, narrowing her eyes at the wasp and Agatha’s car.

The Doctor peered at a signpost they passed that read ‘Silent Pool’.

“The lake!” The Doctor exclaimed. “She's heading for the lake. What's she doing?” He wondered.

“Doctor, this is the lake where her car is discovered tomorrow,” Ariel mumbled.

“I know,” the Doctor hummed. “I just hope we don’t change history and add her body to it.”

“Here I am, the honey in the trap,” Agatha said to the wasp, holding up the firestone for him. The trio jumped out of the car and Ariel hopped out into the Doctor’s arms who placed her delicately on the ground before grabbing her hand and running to Agatha. “Come to me, Vespiform,” she said.

“She’s controlling it,” Donna breathed with wide eyes.

“Always has been,” Ariel nodded. “She just didn’t know it until now.”

“Its mind is based on her thought processes,” the Doctor added. “They're linked,” he muttered.

“Quite so, Doctor,” Agatha nodded. “If I die, then this creature might die with me,” she hoped.

“You can’t just kill yourself in the hopes that the creature could die!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Then the creature will kill me regardless,” Agatha sighed.

“Don’t hurt her!” The Doctor yelled at the wasp. “You're not meant to be like this. You've got the wrong template in your mind!”

“You don’t have to kill people!” Ariel cried.

“It’s not listening to you,” Donna mumbled.

“You can be better than this,” Ariel promised. “You don’t have to murder people just because you can!”

When the wasp tried to lunge at Ariel, Donna took evasive action and grabbed the firestone and tossed it in the lake. The wasp pulled away from Ariel and followed it.

The four of them all ran to the lake and watched as the surface bubbled and thrashed wildly but the wasp didn’t make a reappearance.

“How do you kill a wasp?” Donna sighed. “Drown it, just like his father.”

“Donna, that thing couldn't help itself,” the Doctor sighed, staring at the red-head in shock.

“Neither could I,” Donna breathed, surprised that the Doctor still felt the need to defend the creature.

“Donna, you didn’t just kill the wasp. You kill the Reverend,” Ariel mumbled. Lady Eddison’s son.” That was one of the main reasons she was so opposed to killing like the Doctor was. She knew from early on that when you kill you weren’t just killing someone who did bad. You were killing a husband, a father, a son. Someone who meant something to people.

“He was gonna kill you,” Donna frowned. “If it meant saving your life I’d do it again,” she nodded.

Ariel sighed and smiled softly, wrapping Donna in a hug. “Thank you,” she muttered.

Donna smiled. “You’re welcome.”

The water began bubbling purple as the Reverend slowly died.

“Death comes as the end, and justice is served,” Agatha sighed.

“Murder at the Vicar's rage,” the Doctor breathed and Donna and Ariel turned to him with wide eyes. “Needs a bit of work,” he shrugged and Ariel just rolled her eyes.

She loved the Doctor more than she could even begin to put into words.

All of a sudden, Agatha doubled over in pain and the Doctor grabbed her as she dropped to her knees, crying out in pain.

“Oh, it's the Firestone,” the Doctor said with wide eyes as he looked back at the lake. “It's part of the Vespiform's mind. It's dying and it's connected to Agatha.”

Agatha glowed purple for a few moments before it faded and her eyes fluttered shut as she sighed.

“He let her go,” the Doctor breathed. “Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to save someone's life.”

“He chose not to kill,” Ariel smiled softly, glancing at the lake and its silent waters where beneath it the Reverend laid.

“Is she alright, though?” Donna asked, nodding down at Agatha.

“Of course,” the Doctor nodded.

“What about the amnesia?” Ariel asked. “She got that from the Vespiform didn’t she?”

“The amnesia,” the Doctor sighed and nodded in response to Ariel’s question. “It wiped her mind of everything that happened. The wasp, the murders.”

“And us,” Donna added with a nod. “She’ll forget about us,” she reminded him.

“Oh, but it was worth it,” Ariel smiled. “Even if Agatha Christie doesn’t remember meeting us, for a while there, we got to meet Agatha Christie.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor grinned. “And we’ve solved another riddle,” he nodded. “The mystery of Agatha Christie. And tomorrow morning, her car gets found by the side of a lake. A few days later, she turns up in hotel at Harrogate with no idea of what just happened.”

“Well, we better get going then,” Ariel smirked and the Doctor chuckled and nodded.

“Help me carry her into the car,” the Doctor said, nodding to the car.

Ariel carried Agatha’s feet and Donna held the door open for her so they could bring her inside.

They drove back to Lady Eddison’s home where, while Donna and the Doctor carried Agatha into the Tardis, Ariel explained what had happened to the party.

The Doctor knew she could handle it and explain things to them in a way that was neither insenstive nor too descriptive of their knowledge of the future and what happens to Agatha.

She told the party that while Reverend Arnold had died, he had died saving Agatha’s life and that while Agatha was alive, the Vespiform had given her amnesia, so it was best if she stayed out of public eye for a few days and was taken care of. 

She consoled Lady Eddison at the loss of her child, but knew the woman felt some level of comfort that her child’s last moments weren’t spent trying to kill but to save.

Afterwards, she headed back to the Tardis and just as they arrived at the Harrogate Hotel eleven days later, Agatha began to wake up.

They told her they were mere kind strangers who found her asleep by the lake and decided to take her to the nearest hotel. 

She walked out of the Tardis and to the front steps to the Harrogate Hotel, turning back to the odd trio curiously.

They all smiled kindly at her as they watched her head inside. 

“All that stuff. The Vespiform. Nobody else is ever gonna hear about it again,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor nodded. “No one’ll ever know.”

“Lady Eddison, the Colonel, and all the staff. What about them?” Donna wondered, frowning at the couple.

“Oh, I doubt they’d want anyone to hear about this,” Ariel shrugged. “The scandal,” she smirked, feigning shock.

“Shameful story,” the Doctor chuckled, shaking his head. “They'd never talk of it. Too British. While the Unicorn does a bunk back to London town. She can never even say she was there.”

“You can’t exactly tell people you saw aliens while you were impersonating a famous socialite,” Ariel smiled.

“What happens to Agatha?” Donna asked.

“Oh, great life,” the Doctor sighed.

“She divorced the man that cheated on her,” Ariel nodded and Donna grinned.

“Met another man, married again,” the Doctor continued. “Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote.”

“She wrote far more than she did before the disappearance,” Ariel chuckled.

“She never thought her books were any good, though. And she must have spent all those years wondering,” Donna sighed. “And to add onto that, she was missing eleven days of her life,” Donna mumbled.

The Doctor took a deep breath and turned back into the Tardis. Ariel closed the door behind them and he tossed his coat aside as he spun to the girls with a smirk.

“The thing is, I don't think she ever quite forgot,” the Doctor remarked. “Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like, Miss Marple,” he smiled at Donna.

“I should’ve made her sign a contract,” Donna muttered, shaking her head and Ariel snickered.

“And, where is it, where is it, hold on. Here we go.” The Doctor knelt to the ground and pulled up a deck plate. From that, he got out a large old wooden chest and flung it open. “C. That is C for Cybermen, C for Carrionites,” he listed, tossing out a small screaming ball. He handed a marble bust of the head of Caesar that didn’t look as though it had been removed nicely and handed it to Ariel. Her eyes widened as she held it and she frowned down at the item, but didn’t say a word. “And Christie!” The Doctor exclaimed, pulling out one of the books. “Look at that,” he smirked.

Ariel peered down into the box and frowned. “There’s my copy of  _ Murder on the Orient Express _ !” She cried. She put the head of Caesar back in the box and snatched out the book, glaring at the Doctor.

“Yeah, well, I wanted to read it,” the Doctor said awkwardly.

“You’ve got a whole library in here,” Ariel reminded him.

“Oh, never mind that!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Look at this,” he smiled, flashing the cover of  _ Death In The Clouds _ to them. On the cover there was a giant wasp.

Ariel grinned and Donna smiled as she grabbed the book from the Doctor and stared at it. “She did remember,” Donna sighed.

“Somewhere in the back of her mind, it all lingered,” the Doctor grinned and Ariel beamed up at him as she scooted over to his side and he wrapped an arm around her. “And that's not all,” he nodded. “Look at the copyright page.”

“Facsimile edition,” Donna hummed.  “Published in the year five billion!” She exclaimed with wide eyes.

Ariel just giggled.

“People never stop reading them,” the Doctor nodded.

“And why should they?” Ariel shrugged with a small smirk.

“She is the best selling novelist of all time,” the Doctor sighed with a soft smile.

“But she never knew,” Donna mumbled.

“Well, no one knows how they're going to be remembered,” the Doctor shrugged, taking back the book and putting it back in the box. He put all the C items back in the box and closed it before putting it back under the Tardis floor, covering it with the deck plate and standing up with a sigh. “All we can do is hope for the best. Maybe that's what kept her writing. Same thing keeps me travelling,” he said, grinning at Ariel and Donna. “Onwards?” He prompted with a raised eyebrow.

Ariel and Donna shared a smile. 

“Onwards,” Donna nodded.


	24. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really, really wanted to write a chapter where Ariel and the Doctor go on a date. Just something short, but long enough to give you a look into their minds and show you how much they really care about each other, plus add something to how their relationship can progress with Ariel's two secrets, so here it is!
> 
> Enjoy!

Ariel sighed as she leant on the doorframe of the Tardis while sipping her hot chocolate. She sat at the very edge of the Tardis floor, starry out at the starry sky as the Tardis drifted.

She loved moments where she could just sit and allow the impact of just how lucky she was to sink in.

She got to see things people could only dream of. She learned things about the universe people could only speculate about. It was easy to forget that when travelling with the Doctor. It all began to feel natural. She forgot at times just how wonderful life with the Doctor really was.

The Doctor stepped out and wordlessly sat by her side. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. 

The Doctor wrapped his arm around her and she smiled softly.

“What would you say to us going out together? Just the two of us?” The Doctor asked, looking down and brushing a few stray hairs out of her face.

Ariel sat up and looked at him with a small smirk. “What, like a date?” She asked.

“I suppose,” the Doctor shrugged.

Ariel grinned and giggled at him. “Yes, Doctor, I will go on a date with you,” she nodded.

“Brilliant!” The Doctor exclaimed and jumped up to punch coordinates into the Tardis.

“What, now?” Ariel frowned. 

“Of course,” the Doctor grinned.

Ariel shrugged but nodded and decided to go with the flow. The Doctor’s mind ran at a thousand miles an hour and it was either get in the car and ride with him or get left behind.

“Where are we going?” Ariel asked.

The Doctor smirked at her. “It’s a surprise,” he said and she grinned.

The Tardis flew through the sky, hardly disturbing the sleeping Donna Noble in her bed. They both knew if they didn’t wake her up or weren’t too loud, she wouldn’t care at all where they went.

They landed with the familiar wheezing and the Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand.

“Are you ready?” The Doctor asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Ariel smiled.

The Doctor grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, guiding her outside. 

They walked out into a desert-like area with a large river beside it and a camel trudging past. They looked up and saw a large white structure in the process of being built. 

Ariel inhaled sharply at the sight.

“Is that-?” She began.

The Doctor nodded. “The Taj Mahal. Known as a monument to love in history. It started construction in 1632, when the wife of the Emperor, after 19 years of marriage, died giving birth to her 14th child. According to legend, distraught at his powerlessness to help her, Shah Jahan made a deathbed promise to build his wife the greatest tomb the world had ever seen. After a period of intense grieving, as promised he began work on an extraordinarily elaborate mausoleum to honour Princess Arjumand Banu Begum– the Taj Mahal,” the Doctor explained, gesturing to the large construct in the process of being built. 

Ariel stared up at in in wonder. She had always wanted to see the Taj Mahal when she was a little girl. She learned about the monument to love and, of course being a small child dreaming of true love, she wanted to seem the monument herself. She never dreamed that one day she might get the chance.

The Doctor grinned down at her as he watched her face brighten with wonder. It was like magic to witness, let alone create. She was beautiful and magical and every inch of her was pure wonder. The stars and the universe couldn’t compare to the gorgeous woman in his arms.

He glanced up at the Taj Mahal. The structure was near completion, so it’s beauty shined in its finally days of construction, but the Doctor looked down at Ariel and thought that it couldn’t possibly compare to the beauty Ariel bore as she grinned up at the monument.

The Doctor took a deep breath. “Poets claimed Arjumand’s beauty was so great that the moon hid its face in shame before her, and she reportedly enthralled the future emperor at first sight. Despite the fact that Shah Jahan had two other wives, Arjumand is generally acknowledged as being the love of his life. He even gave her the name “Mumtaz Mahal”, meaning ‘jewel of the palace’,” he said. 

“It’s beautiful,” Ariel breathed. “And I know it’s not complete yet, but still,” she sighed. “Wow,” she smiled, not knowing what other words she could use to describe it.

“Yeah, it is,” the Doctor grinned, staring at Ariel rather than the Taj Mahal. “And we’ve got a first class ticket to meet the Emperor,” he smirked, pulling out his psychic paper and wagging it happily in front of Ariel.

Ariel giggled and he grabbed her hand. The pair ran into the Taj Mahal to meet the Emperor.

Once they got inside, Ariel froze, staring at the interior with wide eyes. It was beautiful. Every inch of it. 

Gorgeous designs littered every inch of the floors, walls and ceilings. It was enough to make her heart skip a beat in joy.

She almost felt like a criminal carrying the sand from the desert outside into the beautiful temple.

The Doctor grinned at her. She was stunning. Every second he looked at her he couldn’t imagine why she would ever fall in love with him. Compared to her, he was nothing.

She was his definition of perfection. Her smile made the sun’s light look dull by comparison. Her eyes were more beautiful than a dozen swirling galaxies. Her laugh was more musical than anything the musicians throughout history could ever put together.

To the rest of the world she was fairly pretty, but nothing in comparison to how the Doctor saw her.

Ariel turned to the Doctor with a large grin. “Best date ever,” she breathed.

The Doctor smiled and held out his hand to her and she skipped up to him to take it joyfully.

They met Emperor Shah Jahan and expressed their condolences. They talked for a while and the Emperor was more than happy to treat them to a tour of the Taj Mahal.

They walked outside and Ariel giggled delightfully as she saw a camel walking up to her. She looked at the Emperor with wide eyes and he chuckled, handing her a fistful of grass.

“Feed him this,” the Emperor said, nodding to the camel.

Ariel smiled and did as he instructed.

The Doctor and the Emperor watched her, standing side by side as she began to pet the camel’s nose and laughed as it snorted at her.

“You are in love with the girl,” the Emperor remarked. It wasn’t a question but a firm statement. He knew love like that when he saw it in their eyes.

“Oh, yes,” the Doctor hummed. “I don’t deserve her, but somehow she loves me back.”

“Do not waste time with a woman like her doubting yourself, Ser Doctor,” the Emperor advised. “I spent every moment possible with my Mumtaz Mahal, but it still feels as though she was stolen from me.”

“But you got a beautiful son out of it,” the Doctor sighed.

“Yes, but I still wish I had more time with her,” the Emperor nodded. “She loves you as much as you love her, Ser Doctor. Possibly more.”

“Not possible,” the Doctor said immediately, shaking his head.

The Emperor smiled. “She looks at you like you are the stars in the sky and you look at her as though she were the sun shining brightly upon us. Do not put that love to waste questioning whether or not you are worthy of being her stars. Just express all the love you can for your sun.”

The Doctor grinned down at the Emperor. It was nice to be able to receive wisdom and advice from some of the greatest historical figures.

He chuckled as he looked up and saw Ariel yank her hand out of the camels grasp just before it could pull her hand in his mouth as well. She laughed and petted the camel happily.

He wasn’t sure how it was possible that everything she did was pure magic in his eyes. 

She walked back up to the Emperor and smiled kindly at him.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around her and she sighed at the comfort he presented. He was perfect, and she wasn’t sure anyone had ever treated her the way he had.

She felt like she was floating every second she was around him. Nothing could ever rival the wonder and awe she felt every time she gazed up at him.

It was beautiful. 

He was her wild obsession of a lifetime. He was a drug she wanted to use for the rest of her life. He was her best friend. He was the man she was head over heels in love with. He was everything. She was so lucky to get the chance to love someone as wonderful and fantastic as him.

She had spent years of her life on the outside. She dated men that, while nice, always felt more like friends than people she was truly in love with. Looking at the Doctor, she knew what it meant to be in love. He was the one she had been waiting for. All at once, she understood why songs and poems and novels throughout history had been written about that emotion. Why people throughout time had desperately tried to find a way to put it into words. It was a feeling she never wanted to get rid of. 

It was like a great roller coaster ride, terrifying and scary but also wonderful and exciting at the same time. 

She would follow him to the ends of the universe if he just asked.

The Doctor and Ariel said their polite goodbyes  to the Emperors and he waved goodbye, begging them to stop by again.

Ariel wrapped her arm around the Doctor’s and held his hand tightly, grinning at him.

“So?” The Doctor prompted.

“It’s fair to say that you put all other first dates to shame,” Ariel nodded, giggling up at him.

The Doctor smiled and headed back to the Tardis with her by his side. They closed the door behind them and the Doctor spun Ariel in his arms.

He kissed her roughly at first, pressing his lips firmly against hers, but soon enough they fell into a much more tender kiss, softly and delicate against each other’s lips. He cupped her cheek softly tracing his thumb against her cheekbone as he willed her lips to part. She surrendered completely and he found a new way to devour as he backed her into the console and she tasted the faint mint on his tongue, smiling softly against his lips.

She was almost ready to let him go even further, but her mind yelled at her why she couldn’t go that far yet.

He didn’t know everything about her and if they were going to do that, she wanted it to be right. She wanted him to know who she was completely and accept her for it. She couldn’t do that to him when he still didn’t know the full story.

With a frustrated sigh, she pulled away from the Doctor’s kiss and smiled softly at him as she brushed some of the hair she had messed up out of his face.

The Doctor groaned when she pulled away, clearly as frustrated as she felt.

“Not yet,” Ariel mumbled with sad eyes. “Not until you know it all,” she nodded. “But the date was incredible,” she smiled. “Thank you.”

She placed one quick kiss on his lips and waved good night, heading to her room to get a few hours of sleep before their next trip.

The Doctor was left standing in the console room looking dumbfounded as she stared at the place she had vacated with wide eyes.

He knew what Ariel had done was right. It wasn’t fair for her to know everything about him and for him to still be missing out on two major, pivotal points in her life. 

Still, he ached at the thought that they couldn’t be together yet. He loved everything about her and he highly doubted two points in her life would change that, but he knew that until he knew everything, she wouldn’t want to go any further with him.

Which meant he had to reach the day he regenerated before their relationship could evolve.

He took a deep breath and kicked the console softly.

He decided, with a resounding sigh, that he hated oracles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've debated for the longest time where the Doctor would take someone on a first date. Like literally I looked up a site, the place where I got all the Taj Mahal information (I'm not an expert on the Taj Mahal, all I knew was that the Emperor built it for his wife), where I could find the most romantic points in history. I debated having him take her to a galaxy, an ordinary landmark and an alien planet. It's extremely difficult seeing at the Doctor could take her literally anywhere, but after a lot of thinking and planning I decided on the Taj Mahal. 
> 
> Basically all the information about the Taj Mahal comes from this site: http://www.historyextra.com/article/anne-boleyn/most-romantic-moments-history


	25. The Diverted Trip

“Let’s go to the beach!” The Doctor exclaimed with a laugh and Donna and Ariel shared a wide eyed, amused look.

“Isn’t that a bit dull for you?” Ariel frowned. “Next thing you know, you’re gonna start landing on Sundays,” Ariel hummed.

“Oh, never,” the Doctor assured her with a grin. “No, but there’s this planet. Florida. Not the state. The planet. It’s beautiful and has beaches across all of it. The whole thing is like one great big beach.”

Ariel giggled. “You’re really in love with the idea of this beach aren’t you?”

“I love a good beach!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Plus, I could use a good tan,” the Doctor shrugged. “I’m getting a bit pale around the ankles,” he sighed, holding up his foot for her to see.

“I think your ankles are the least of your concern,” Ariel smirked, leaning on the console as she watched the Doctor.

The Doctor grinned at her, his eyes sparkling as Donna groaned loudly.

“Right, you lot, before you start canoodling in front of me, I’m gonna step into the other room,” Donna announced. 

The couple hardly noticed, swimming in each other’s eyes as she sighed and walked out.

Just moments after she left, the Doctor winced and clutched his chest.

He frowned curiously and Ariel slid to his side as he pulled out his psychic paper.

On it, read a message in thinly written cursive. 

The Library

Come as soon as you can.  _ x _

Ariel felt a twinge of jealousy at the sight of the small kiss at the end of the

message, but when she looked up at the Doctor and saw he had no idea who it could be from, she sighed softly. 

Call it selfish, but she wanted the Doctor forever, or at least for as long possible, knowing he might end up with someone new after she was long gone stung but she knew it had to happen. 

Eventually, everyone moved on, but having the reminder staring her in the face that he would move on didn’t exactly help much.

She felt like they were just at the beginning of their story, and she didn’t exactly enjoy the fact that they were going to meet the end.

“Well, it seems the beach will have to wait,” the Doctor sighed, smiling softly. “What do you think?” He asked, holding up the psychic paper to her. 

“I think whoever summoned you, sure does love you,” Ariel mumbled. “They sealed their message with a kiss after all.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s nothing,” the Doctor frowned, shaking his head.

Ariel giggled and shook her head. “You’re so daft, Doctor,” she sighed, pressing a kiss to his temple. “Whoever this is must be from your future, and isn’t it a good thing that you move on past me?” 

The Doctor stared at the psychic paper, suddenly feeling a twisting in the pit of his stomach and wishing he didn’t have to go. “Yeah,” the Doctor mumbled.  _ No _ , he thought silently.

“Come on,” Ariel nodded. “Let’s get a move on, then. You did after all promise me a planet filled with books if you don’t remember,” she grinned.

She knew she had to feign happiness for the Doctor and Donna. She didn’t even want to imagine how they would react if she displayed how she was really feeling like she had swallowed a rock. They may think she was bitter or jealous or merely daft and couldn’t accept the fact that the Doctor was an ageless alien and she was an ordinary human with an expiration date.

The thing was, when she was wrapped up in his arms, that all disappeared. She didn’t think about how their relationship would have to die one day. They were just two people wildly in love with each other, but this next adventure would be a screaming reminder that it would all have to end.

The Doctor sighed softly as he stared down at the psychic paper. He wished that for just once he could ignore the summons and take his girlfriend to the beach. He wished that they could be happy and ignore the fact that one day that happiness had to end.

It was another one of the universe’s cruel jokes. Make him fall madly in love with a woman and then stamp an expiration date on her and then force him to be reminded of that by pulling him into the one thing he could never ignore: a cry for help.

The Doctor took a deep breath and set the Tardis for the coordinates.

Ariel went through the Tardis to find Donna and took the time to fight back her tears. She had been so happy and now that all had to come crashing down.

She quickly explained to the red-head where they were going when they landed with a thud, the heavy weight of Ariel’s heart falling into her stomach.

“What?” Donna asked, heading into the console room with Ariel by her side. “I thought were were going to the beach! I was getting my swimsuit ready and everything! I love the beach!” She exclaimed.

“Books!” The Doctor cried, doing as he did best and feigning a grin for the sake of others around him. “People never really stop loving books.”

Donna sighed and as the Doctor ran out, the two women walked out after him. Ariel walked out last, taking one last apprehensive glance around the Tardis. She wished she could just stay there and pretend the future wasn’t coming.

That was the one problem with dating a time traveller, you got to see who came after you.

She walked out with a heavy sigh and the Doctor grabbed her hand giving her three firm squeezes.

I love you.

She faked a smile and squeezed back and the Doctor took a deep breath, glancing around at the area they had landed in.

It was a wide open area with a desk at the center and bookshelves around the walls as well as a few small carts overwhelmed with books. 

“Fifty first century,” the Doctor announced. “By now you've got holovids, direct to brain downloads, fiction mist, but you need the smell. The smell of books, Ariel. Deep breath,” he sighed, guiding his girlfriend and the redhead out a large pair of double doors to their left. 

Just outside the doors, there was a large marble staircase, leading down to a balcony overlooking the planet.

They ran down the steps, the Doctor faked joy as his gut twisted with anxiety about who they would meet there.

“The Library. So big it doesn't need a name. Just a great big The,” the Doctor said, smirking down at Donna.

“It’s like a city,” Donna breathed, looking down at the planet with wide eyes.

“Except it’s more than that,” Ariel smiled.

“Yep,” the Doctor nodded. “It's a world. Literally, a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer. Biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book. Brand new editions, specially printed.”

“Oh, I love Jeffrey Archer,” Ariel hummed. “ _ Best Kept Secret _ is a masterpiece.”

“Yes!” The Doctor exclaimed. “One of my favorites if I do say so myself,” he chuckled.

“Where exactly in The Library are we?” Ariel wondered.

“We're near the equator,” the Doctor mumbled, licking a finger and holding it in the air. “So this must be biographies!” The Doctor cried, making Donna jump and Ariel just giggle. “I love biographies.”

“Yeah, very you,” Donna nodded with a small smirk “Always a death at the end.”

The Doctor and Ariel shared a wide eyed gaze and Ariel gulped harshly, looking away from the Doctor and fighting back tears.

“I’m gonna go,” Ariel gestured vaguely in the opposite direction. Without further elaborating, she simply nodded and walked back up the steps. There were two long corridors on the first flight of steps before they reached the door they had exited and she went down her right side. She didn’t get far. She simply leant against the wall, hugging her body and willing herself not to cry.

“Have I said something wrong?” Donna frowned.

The Doctor just sighed softly and ran back up the steps to Ariel. He found her leaning against the wall, hugging her body and shaking.

He sighed softly and pulled her into his arms.

She sobbed quietly into his chest and he rubbed her back, trying to calm her down despite his nerves still being on edge.

“It’s not fair,” Ariel sobbed.

“I know,” the Doctor breathed, nodding as he held her close to his chest. “Believe me, I know.”

It was one of the reasons he held back from being with her for so long. She was mortal. She died and he just regenerated and got a new face. It wasn’t fair to anybody.

She eventually pulled away and took shaky breaths, wiping away her tears and glancing up at the Doctor with watery eyes.

“I wish we could just get in the Tardis and fly away,” Ariel sighed.

“I do too,” the Doctor nodded.

Both of them knew they couldn’t but that didn’t stop them from wishing. 

“If we’re going to do this. I don’t wanna lose you. Not even for a second,” Ariel said.

The Doctor smiled softly at her. “Done,” he promised

Ariel nodded took a deep breath, grabbing the Doctor’s hand and marching back out to the balcony. 

Just as they walked out, the Doctor spotted Donna picking up one of the books and raced forward, slamming it shut in front of her.

“Way-a. Spoilers!” The Doctor snapped.

“What?” Donna frowned at him.

“These books are from your future. You don't want to read ahead. Spoil all the surprises. Like peeking at the end,” the Doctor shrugged.

Donna sighed and rolled her eyes. “Isn’t travelling with you one big spoiler?” She asked.

“As long as you don’t learn who’s in politics or when certain things are invented, you’re not exactly spoiled,” Ariel said with a raised eyebrow.

“Exactly,” the Doctor nodded. “I try to keep you away from major plot developments. Which, to be honest, I seem to be very bad at, because you know what? This is the biggest library in the universe. So where is everyone? It's silent.”

The Doctor spun around and pulled his sonic out of his suit, using it on a nearby computer and bringing it to life.

“The library?” Donna guessed with a frown.

“The planet,” the Doctor sighed. “The whole planet.”

“Technically, the same thing,” Ariel shrugged.

“Maybe it’s a Sunday,” Donna sighed.

“No, I never land on Sundays,” the Doctor shook his head. “Sundays are boring.”

“By Sunday the week is already set. There’s no point to it,” Ariel shrugged. “He and the Tardis both like days of temporal flux where anything can happen. Like Saturday.”

“Oh, you’re starting to sound like him now,” Donna hummed. “Rubbing off on her, you are!” Donna exclaimed with a laugh.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” the Doctor mumbled. 

“What? What is it?” Ariel asked, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes at the screen.

“Doctor, why are we here? Really, why?” Donna asked.

“Oh, you know,” the Doctor shrugged. “Just passing.”

“No, seriously,” Donna insisted. “It was all let's hit the beach, then suddenly we're in a library. Why?” She wondered.

“Scanning for life forms,” the Doctor muttered, ignoring her question. “If I do a scan looking for your basic humanoids. You know, your book readers, few limbs and a face, apart from us, I get nothing,” he said, slapping the screen which only read ‘3 life forms detected.’ “Zippo, nada. See? Nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to any kind of life,” he breathed, changing the controls a bit and allowing the system to scan. 

The screen buzzed and said Error 1,000,000,000,000 lifeform number capped at maximum record.

“A million, million,” the Doctor sighed. “Gives up after that,” he shrugged. “A million, million.”

“But there's nothing here,” Donna reasoned. “There's no one.”

“Certainly no sight of a million million life forms,” Ariel nodded.

“And not a sound,” the Doctor added. “A million. million life forms, and silence in the library.”

“Now, where could a million million life forms be in a library?” Ariel wondered. “Where could they be hiding?”

“But there's no one here,” Donna shrugged. “There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive,” she tried to reason, but they all still stared at one of the books on the railing of the balcony apprehensively.

They tiptoed towards it cautiously all too concerned about what it may or may not be to consider how silly they looked as a trio.

Just as the Doctor flipped the cover of the book open, a voice from the room they had landed in made all three of them jump and Donna let out a quick scream.

“Welcome,” the feminine voice said.

“Oh, nothing to worry about,” Ariel sighed as she glanced up at the source of the sound.

“That came from here,” Donna breathed, gesturing up the steps, taking heavy breaths as she tried to calm herself. 

“Yeah,” the Doctor muttered. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and they all darted back up the steps into the empty room they had landed in.

A vaguely humanoid sculpture stood by the curved desk and turned its head towards them at their entrance. It spoke with a female voice from a small face on its surface.

“I am Courtesy Node seven one zero slash aqua. Please enjoy the Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers, regardless of species or hygiene taboo,” the Node said.

“That face, it looks real,” Donna remarked, frowning up at it.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” the Doctor shrugged.

Ariel raised an eyebrow up at him. A genuine question of whether or not it was real. He gave her a quick nod. Her eyes widened and she sighed softly. She didn’t think she’d ever stop getting shocked about what she saw in the places the Doctor took her. It never ceased to both awe and horrify her.

“A statue with a real face, though?” Donna frowned. She turned to the Doctor and Ariel with a smirk. “It's a hologram or something, isn't it?” She guessed.

“No, but really, it’s fine,” the Doctor insisted.

Donna looked like she wanted to speak further and Ariel gazed at her with wide eyes. “Donna, just leave it,” Ariel instructed calmly.

Donna frowned but nodded.

“Additional,: the Node announced. “There follows a brief message from the Head Librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by a Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The library has sealed itself, we can't. Oh, they're here. Argh. Slarg. Snick. Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm. units for the comfort of other readers,” she requested politely, unaware of the horror she had just described to them.

“So, that’s why we’re here,” the Doctor hummed. 

“Who are ‘they’?’ Ariel asked with a small frown. “Because the Head Librarian said ‘they’re here.’”

“Good question,” the Doctor nodded. “Any other messages, same date stamp?” He asked the Node.

“One additional message,” the Node announced. “This message carries a Felman Lux coherency warning of five zero eleven-.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine, fine, fine,” the Doctor sighed, waving his hand in irritation at the Node. “Just play it,” he snapped.

“Oh, pushy,” Ariel faked a pout, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at the Doctor.

He grinned down at her. She was a pure vision.

“Message follows,” the Node said. “Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember, if you want to live, count the shadows. Message ends.”

Ariel’s mind immediately began spinning as she tried to work out the exact meaning of the message. Did the person leaving it mean the shadows of objects around them, or their own shadows? Regardless, of the meaning one thing was clear: the shadows were dangerous. She glanced up at the Doctor and saw him coming to that same conclusion.

“Donna?” The Doctor prompted.

“Yeah?” Donna said.

“Stay out of the shadows,” the Doctor advised.

“Why, what’s in the shadows?” Donna asked with a small frown as the Doctor pulled Ariel along to the door on their right hand side. The one they had not yet walked out of.

“Danger,” Ariel breathed and that was enough for Donna to heed their advice and hop over one of the shadows before following them.

The right hand door lead them straight into the stacks, a dimly lit area with shelves as high as skyscrapers around them.

Ariel spun around with a wild grin. Though their reasons for being there were less than ecstatic, she was so happy to be around so many books. 

She had found a home in stories long before the Doctor had fallen into her life and presented her with a real one.

“So, we weren't just in the neighbourhood,” Donna concluded with a sigh.

“Yeah, we kind of, sort of lied a bit,” the Doctor shrugged awkwardly and Ariel flashed a nervous grin at her best friend. “I got a message on the psychic paper,” he said, pulling the paper out of his suit and flashing it to Donna. “What do you think?” He asked as Donna took the psychic paper from him. “Cry for help?”

“Cry for help with a kiss?” Donna smirked, but that smile quickly fell when she noticed Ariel’s forlorn gaze at the floor. “Oh,” Donna sighed and suddenly her eyes widened as she realized what she said about everything ending in a death with the Doctor. “Oh, my God, Ariel I am so sorry!” She exclaimed, running up to the girl and wrapping her in a hug.

“It’s alright,” Ariel nodded with a soft smile. “You didn’t know,” she shrugged.

Donna nodded and pulled away from the brunette and looking up at the Doctor. “Who’s it from?” She asked.

“No idea,” the Doctor shrugged.

“So why did we come here?” Donna wondered with an exhausted sigh. “Why did you-?” She started to ask why he would put Ariel through the pain of possibly facing another woman when the Doctor inhaled sharply as he looked behind them.

“Ariel,” the Doctor mumbled, tapping the girl’s shoulder and gesturing to the lights behind them.

Row by row, they were each going out, nearing the trio.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed.

“What’s happening?!” Donna exclaimed.

“Run!” The Doctor cried. 

The three of them bolted down the corridor towards a large wooden door. The Doctor desperately tried to get it open, but to no avail.

“What, is it locked?” Donna asked.

“Jammed,” the Doctor muttered, trying to wrench the door open. “The wood's warped.”

“Well, sonic it,” Donna nodded, gesturing to the door simply. “Use the thingy.”

“I can’t,” the Doctor sighed. “It’s wood.”

“What, it doesn’t do wood?!” Donna exclaimed. Ariel snickered, she always loved watching Donna react to simple things the Doctor couldn’t achieve. It was extremely entertaining.

“Hang on, hang on,” the Doctor said, pulling back and fishing his sonic out of his suit. “I can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings. I can shatterline the interface.”

“Oh, get out of the way,” Donna sighed, waving him to the side. “You and me, Ariel?” She prompted.

Ariel grinned. “Yeah,” she nodded. She had watched that a thousand times in films and always wanted to do it herself.

The women held hands as they kicked the double doors open and bolted inside.

The Doctor stared at his girlfriend with wide eyes and only the feel of her grabbing his wrist and pulling him inside was enough to snap him back into action and force him to help Donna shut the doors behind them and place a book in between the handles.

They turned around and a small metal security globe floated in the air, watching them.

“Oh. Hello,” the Doctor grinned. “Sorry to burst on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?” He asked.

Nothing responded, instead the small metal globe fell to the ground with a clang.

“What is it?” Donna asked.

“Security camera,” the Doctor said. “Switched itself off,” he told them as he sat on the floor by the camera’s side and pulled out his sonic.

“If that’s a security camera, does that mean somebody’s watching on the other side?” Ariel frowned. “Probably off world since we scanned for life, but I dunno,” Ariel shrugged. “Just a thought.”

“Possibly,” the Doctor sighed. “I’d have to figure out the source before i can say anything for a fact. By the way, nice door skills,” he remarked. “Both of you.”

“I always wanted to do that,” Ariel grinned. “If I’m honest I always thought I’d trip and fall if I ever tried. But you, Donna, you were brilliant. Have you done that before?”

“Yeah, well, you know, boyfriends. Sometimes you need the element of surprise. What was that? What was after us? I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?” Donna asked.

“Possibly,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Are we safe here?” Donna asked, glancing around the room.

“Of course we're safe,” the Doctor shrugged. “There's a little shop,” he smiled, gesturing towards a sign on the wall that said ‘The Shop’ and ‘Entrance This Way’.

“Oh, you love a little shop,” Ariel sighed with a grin.

“Yeah,” the Doctor smiled. “It’s small yet it’s got everything you need. The perfect shop.”

Just then, the camera flicked open and the Doctor jumped up victoriously. “Gotcha!” He exclaimed, holding up the small metal globe.

The women walked over to his side and peered down at the camera, as they did so, a small panel opened up and bright red electronic lettering scrawled across it.

_ No, stop it. No. No. _

“Ooo, I'm sorry,” the Doctor hummed. “I really am. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,” he apologized, putting his sonic away. “It's alive,” he breathed.

“Well, then put it down. Clearly, you’re hurting it,” Ariel muttered.

The Doctor ignored her, making her roll her eyes as he continued to inspect the security camera.

“What? You said it was a security camera,” Donna reminded him with a frown.

“It is,” the Doctor nodded. “It’s an alive one.”

A new message started to crawl across the panel.

_ Others are coming. The Library is breached. Others are coming. _

“Others?” Donna frowned. “What’s it mean, others?”

“Hell, if I know,” Ariel shrugged. “Now, would you put it down?!” Ariel snapped at the Doctor, slapping him lightly on the arm. 

“Yes, yes, alright,” the Doctor sighed.

“It clearly doesn’t like you waking it up and grappling it, so don’t bloody keep doing it?!” She exclaimed.

Donna sighed. She sensed she wouldn’t be getting any answers from the old married couple any time soon. She took a deep breath and walked up to one of the Nodes.

“Excuse me,” Donna prompted. “What does it mean, others?”

“Just a second!” The Doctor exclaimed, looking up at Donna. “Uh, er, Donna, that's barely more than a speak your weight machine, it can't help you.”

“Yeah, Donna, I’d just keep away from the Nodes,” Ariel shrugged. “We can work this out on our own. Some statue can’t help.”

They were both desperately trying to keep their friend from uncovering the ugly truth. They both often found themselves shielding her from some of the more horrific bits of the universe. 

The Doctor had initially tried to do the same with Ariel in their first two weeks together, but she had simply told him there was no point in travelling the universe with him if she didn’t understand everything. The bad only made the good that much better. They weren’t so sure Donna thought along the same lines.

“So why’s it got a face?” Donna wondered, smirking at the couple.

The Node turned to her and a pale, male face faced Donna. “This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death.”

Donna stepped back with wide eyes as she stared at the Mark Node.

“It’s a real face,” Donna gasped.

“It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy,” the Mark Node smiled politely.

“It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like?!” Donna exclaimed. “That statue's got a real dead person's face on it,” she told the couple, pointing up at the face and wondering why they weren’t more upset over the dead face.

“Donna, it’s not that big of a deal,” Ariel insisted. “This is centuries ahead of us. Their norm is maddening to us.”

“Yeah, it's the fifty first century,” the Doctor shrugged. “That's basically like donating a park bench.”

“It’s donating a face!” Donna shrieked.

“No, wait, no,” the Doctor breathed, pulling both women to the side. 

Donna jumped away at the feeling of his hand on her waist. “Oi! Hands!” She snapped and Ariel snickered.

The Doctor ignored her and narrowed his eyes at a large shadow over the shoulder of the redhead. 

“The shadow,” the Doctor murmured. “Look.”

“What about it?” Donna frowned.

“Count the shadows,” the Doctor remembered.

“One. There, counted it. One shadow,” Donna shrugged.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed. “But what’s casting it?” He wondered, moving past Donna and peering at the shadow.

It was just a simple shadow on the floor with no objects in front of it and no sun pointing at it to cast such a hard shadow.

“Where did it come from?” Ariel wondered.

The Doctor’s eyes widened as he realized. “It must have moved there,” he breathed. “Oh, I'm thick! Look at me, I'm old and thick. Head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head.”

“Yeah, but why, what is it?” Ariel asked.

The Doctor grabbed her wrist and pulled her to an adjoined corridor where the lights were flickering.

“The power must be going,” Donna frowned, peering at the corridor over Ariel’s shoulder.

“This place runs on fission cells. They'll outburn the sun,” the Doctor murmured.

“Then why’s it dark?” Donna wondered.

“It’s not dark,” the Doctor breathed.

Ariel’s eyes widened as she started to realize. The doctor turned to her and pointed with wide eyes. 

“Yes, oh, exactly yes,” the Doctor hummed.

“But how is that even possible?!” Ariel exclaimed. 

“It’s always been possible. Since the very beginning,” the Doctor muttered.

“Okay, that makes me feel  _ so _ much better,” Ariel said sarcastically.

“The shadow. It’s gone,” Donna gasped, pointing at the shadow that they had been watching warily.

“We need to get back to the Tardis,” the Doctor insisted.

“You’re running?” Ariel frowned with wide eyes. “You never run,” Ariel remarked.

“Why?” Donna asked.

“Well, in this case we need to run extremely far away. Run and never look back, because that shadow hasn’t gone. It moved,” the Doctor said ominously.

“Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming,” the Mark Node announced. “Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached.”

As he said that, there was a flash of bright light, momentarily blinding the trio. Six spacesuited figures entered. The leader walked up to the trio and adjusted her polarising filter so they can see her face.

“Hello, sweetie,” the woman beamed up at the Doctor.

“Pardon?” Ariel prompted with a raised eyebrow, glaring at the woman as she pushed herself in front of the Doctor. She was curious to meet the woman the Doctor would move on with, and now that she had, jealousy thrummed through her veins. She didn’t think about it, she just reacted. It was easy when nothing in your mind and nobody was physically trying to stop you.

“Ah, my love, good to see you as well,” River grinned.

“Okay, that’s the sweetest reaction that look has ever gotten,” Ariel shrugged.

The Doctor gently moved Ariel to the side and glared down at the six spacesuited figures.

“Get out,” the Doctor snapped.

“Doctor,” Donna sighed.

“All of you,” the Doctor ordered. “Turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away. Tell your grandchildren you came to the library and lived. They won't believe you.”

“Pop your helmets, everyone,” the woman called. “We've got breathers.”

“How do you know they’re not androids?” A woman with her filter still darkened asked.

“‘Scuse me? Did you just call me a robot? Not an expert, but I don’t think that’s a proper way to greet someone you’ve just met,” Ariel said, glaring at the woman.

The leader chuckled. “I've dated androids. They don’t have Ariel’s sass and they're rubbish,” she sighed.

“How do you know my name?” Ariel asked, spinning around to the woman.

“I see,” the leader nodded. “Early days for you then. No wonder you’re so quick to act out of jealousy. You and him must’ve just gotten together.”

“I’m sorry, what?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Who are they?!” An older man with blonde hair exclaimed as he popped his helmet off. “You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives,” he insisted.

Ariel raised her eyebrows at the man. She already didn’t like his attitude. He seemed very rich and pompous.

“I know,” the leader beamed at Ariel. “I thought the same thing when I first met him.”

“Okay, that’s freaky,” Ariel breathed.

“Mister Lux, I lied,” the leader sighed. “I'm always lying. Bound to be others,” she shrugged.

Ariel hated herself for starting to actually like the woman. She had to admit. The lady wasn’t too bad on the eyes either. She smiled down at the leader and the woman smirked back up at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

“Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts,” Mister Lux sighed, marching toward a dark haired woman with a high ponytail and a bit too much mascara.

“We’ll talk more later,” the leader nodded. “I have a feeling there’s a bit I’m gonna need to explain,” she shrugged. “But I can assure you, you don’t need to worry about the Doctor and I. You’ll come to be more than happy to welcome it,” she smiled.

Ariel stared after her with wide eyes as the woman marched over to the Doctor. “You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?”

“Please, just leave,” the Doctor begged. “I'm asking you seriously and properly, just leave. Hang on,” he frowned, holding up a hand and glancing at the six of them. “Did you say expedition?”

“My expedition,” Mister Lux nodded. “I funded it.”

“Oh, rich arsehole,” Ariel murmured to herself. “I was right.”

“Nearly, my love,” the leader called.

“Oh, you're not, are you?” The Doctor moaned. “Tell me you're not archaeologists.”

“Got a problem with archaeologists?” The leader chuckled.

Ariel’s eyes widened as she sensed the Doctor about to grow rude again. “Oh, don’t do it,” she mumbled.

“I'm a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists,” the Doctor scoffed. 

“Oh, Doctor, you had to go and be rude again, didn’t you?” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor granted her a quick smirk before looking down at the woman and glaring at her once again.

“Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist,” the woman sighed, holding out a polite hand.

Ariel narrowed her eyes at the woman. She was strange, but she didn’t feel threatened by her. She didn’t even think the woman was there after Ariel disappeared, in fact they seemed to be with the Doctor together, and she had said Ariel accepted them all being together. Maybe, she could be alright with the woman. She seemed genuine enough.

“River Song, lovely name,” the Doctor remarked, shoving the woman back down the direction she came from. “As you're leaving, and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again. Not one living thing, not here, not ever. Stop right there. What's your name?” The Doctor asked a woman with short dark hair and dark skin.

“Anita,” the woman said warily, frowning at the Doctor.

“Anita, stay out of the shadows,” the Doctor instructed, pulling her out of the shadows surrounding them. “Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light. Find a nice, bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very, very scared,” he said and the six people looked at him seemingly unimpressed. River just seemed amused. “No, bit more scared than that,” the Doctor muttered. They all tried their best to seem like they were scared for the Doctor and Ariel just snickered. “Okay, do for now,” the Doctor shrugged. “You,” he said, pointing a finger at a tall man with dark skin and an afro. “Who are you?” He asked.

“Er, Dave,” the man said awkwardly.

“Okay, Dave,” the Doctor nodded, pulling the man towards the corridor the six people came from. 

“Oh, well, Other Dave,” the man corrected himself. “Because that's Proper Dave the pilot,” he said, pointing towards a man with dark hair and a pale face across the room. “He was the first Dave, so when we-.”

“Other Dave,” the Doctor nodded, catching on immediately, not needing the speech. “The way you came, does it look the same as before?”

“Yeah. Oh, it’s a bit darker,” Other Dave remarked with wide eyes.

“How much darker?” The Doctor asked.

“Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now,” Other Dave shrugged.

“Seal up this door,” the Doctor instructed. “We'll find another way out.”

“Would you-?” Other Dave began but his question died on his tongue as he saw the Doctor marching away from him.

“I know you’re starting to trust me so be honest,” River breathed, walking up to Ariel. “What’s going on here?”

Ariel narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn’t completely understand why she trusted the woman. Maybe, it was some gut feeling from her future telling her River Song meant no harm. If that was even possible. Whatever it was, she knew she could talk to River. 

She pulled the woman to the side, watching the Doctor warily as she did so. “When we arrived we got these messages from this Node about counting your shadows and something killing everything in here.”

“That was a hundred years ago. The Library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here's long dead,” River shook her head, frowning at the young girl.

“Bet your life?” Ariel asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Always,” River grinned. 

“Good, ‘cos just before you lot came in here we watched a shadow appear on the ground with nothing casting it and it wasn’t just some soft shadow that could be a trick on the eyes. It was dark black. Then it disappeared,” Ariel sighed.

“Right, so whatever was in here is still alive,” River nodded. “But that was a hundred years,” she frowned. “What could possibly survive that long?”

“The Doctor knows,” Ariel nodded. “And whatever it is, it’s not good.”

“Miss Evangelista?” Mister Lux prompted.

Ariel frowned and walked back up to the Doctor’s side just in time for Miss Evangelista to produce three blue papers for the trio.

“I'm Mister Lux's personal everything,” Miss Evangelista shrugged. “You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experiences inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation,” she nodded.

Ariel scoffed and looked up at the Doctor with the same look of utter shock he was giving her.

“Right, give it here,” the Doctor nodded to Miss Evangelista. 

“Of course,” Ariel smiled.

“Yeah, lovely,” Donna sighed. “Thanks.”

All three of them held out their hands to accept the contracts and when Miss Evangelista handed them to the trio, they all tore them up into tiny pieces, glaring at Mister Lux as they did so.

“My family built this library,” Mister Lux snapped. “I have rights,” he insisted.

“You have a mouth that won't stop,” River retorted, glaring at Mister Lux as Ariel snickered. “Ariel told me there's danger here?” She implored.

The Doctor shot a look at Ariel and she just rolled her eyes. 

“Oh, don’t give me that look,” Ariel sighed. “She seems nice and you seem bloody terrified of whatever this is. You know we can’t do this alone.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded. He hated that Ariel always knew what he was thinking better than he did. To him, his mind was just a mad scramble of odd events overlapping each other. To her, she could see each thought laid out like a map that guided her through his mind. It was a blessing and a curse.

“Something came to this library and killed everything in it,” the Doctor told River. “Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be,” he proposed, growing more sarcastic.

“Ariel told me,” River nodded. “The shadows.”

“Is there anything you haven’t told her?” The Doctor sighed.

“Well, I haven’t told her that you can be a bit rude sometimes meeting new people,” Ariel nodded. “And the fact that your breath smells a bit, did you overheat those pancakes again?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes and chuckled, grateful that Ariel was by his side to keep the tone light.

“What are you doing?” Mister Lux frowned at Other Dave, marching across the room to see him sealing up the door.

“He said seal the door,” Other Dave shrugged.

“I need a torch,” the Doctor hummed.

“Mister Lux has got one,” Ariel nodded and headed over to River. 

“You’re taking orders from him now?” Mister Lux frowned. “What’s next? We start taking orders from the eighteen-year-old?” He sighed.

“Spooky, isn’t it?” The Doctor hummed, snatching the torch from Mister Lux’s grasp and marching away.

“Mister Lux, that eighteen-year-old knows more about what’s going on and what we should do than you so I’d suggest you listen to her,” River snapped.

Ariel grinned at River. “Oh, I do like you,” Ariel hummed. “So, I know you from the future?”

“Yep,” River nodded. “I know you when he goes onto his next face,” she said, nodding to the Doctor.

“I see him in his next face?!” Ariel exclaimed happily. That meant the Doctor didn’t hate her when she told him her secrets. That meant he still wanted to travel with her.

River nodded with a slight grin. “Of course,” she shrugged. “He can’t seem to give you up, that one. In fact, at one point he risks all of time and space just to save your life.”

“Seriously?” Ariel breathed, looking back at the Doctor. “I never knew if he loved me as much as I loved him. I mean I hoped, of course,” she shrugged. “But I never knew for sure.”

“Oh, yes,” River chuckled. “I’ve been jealous of you two more than a couple times.”

“Is it weird that I was jealous of you when the Doctor got that message on his psychic paper, then?” Ariel wondered with a slight smirk.

“Not at all,” River smiled. “In fact, you always knew when I got jealous. You always said to me, ‘don’t worry about him and I. I know he cares about you too. Besides, I was jealous of you when I first met you,’” River remembered.

“Isn’t there some sort of rule against you telling me all this?”  Ariel frowned. “Like spoiling my future or whatever?”

“Oh, no,” River sighed. “Those are rules the Doctor has in place, but not you. Never you,” she shook her head. “You always said you were more than happy to learn what you said in the future. As long as I never spoiled your adventures with the Doctor,” she smirked.

Ariel sighed and grinned. “That does sound like me,” she nodded. “But I’m gonna need a bit more. Just to know for sure. Something I wouldn’t tell anyone I didn’t trust.”

River took a deep breath and nodded as she thought. Her eyes widened as she remembered. “Oh, I know,” she nodded. “I can tell you the way your father really died. Because right now he thinks it was just a car crash, but that’s not all is it?” River prompted.

“Whisper it in my ear!” Ariel hissed.

River chuckled and leant forward, whispering one of Ariel’s biggest secrets. The only other person alive that knew was Ariel’s mother.

Ariel’s eyes widened as she heard her secret spoken out loud to her. She took a deep breath and nodded, pulling away.

“Alright,” Ariel sighed. “I trust you. But don’t tell him that.”

“Not on my life,” River sighed.

“Ariel!” The Doctor called and Ariel jumped up and ran to the Doctor who was using the torch to light up the dark recesses of the room.

Ariel stood by his side and he sighed softly in relief, grabbing her hand and squeezing it three times. She did the same, grinning up at him.

Ariel waved River over, sensing the Doctor was about to either give them an explanation or a new warning.

“Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada,” the Doctor hissed.

“What’s Vashta Nerada?” Donna frowned.

“It's what's in the dark,” the Doctor hummed. “It's what's always in the dark. Lights!” He exclaimed. “That's what we need, lights. You got lights?” He asked the group.

“What for?” River asked. 

“Yeah, what are they going to do?” Ariel wondered. “We already know they’re here, or at least nearby.”

“It’ll form a circle,” the Doctor replied. “Safe area. Big as you can, lights pointing out,” he said, gesturing with his hands.

“Oi,” River said, clicking her fingers at the rest of the group. “Do as he says,” she nodded.

“You’re not listening to this man?” Mister Lux scoffed.

“You’re not still talking?” Ariel retorted. “Listen, right now we need people helping us and making sure nobody here dies. If you’re just going to stand there and gape and pass insults at the Doctor then you’re not going to be of much help,” Ariel snapped.

River grinned at her and turned to the rest of the group. “Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the library database. See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, you're with me. Step into my office,” River said, clicking her fingers at the Doctor.

“You already have an office?” Ariel scoffed. 

“I make quick work, my love,” River beamed. “Now, help Proper Dave. You’re good when it comes to working your way around a library system after you spent  a couple years working in that library,” she reminded her.

“Why, thank you,” Ariel grinned.

“Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?” Mister Lux sighed.

“I don’t fancy you,” River smirked. “And you angered the girl I do fancy,” she shrugged.

Mister Lux took off his helmet while the Doctor and Ariel stood on either side of Proper Dave.

“Pretty boy,” River snapped. “With me, I said,” River reminded him, waving the Doctor over.

Ariel cleared her throat and nodded to River.

“Oh, I'm pretty boy?” The Doctor said with wide eyes.

“Bit slow on the uptake, but yes!” Ariel exclaimed. 

“Pretty?” The Doctor frowned. 

“Bit more than pretty, but yes, now go!” Ariel laughed.

The Doctor grinned and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before running off to join River.

“Don't let your shadows cross. Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected,” the Doctor instructed as he passed the group.

“How can a shadow be infected?” Other Dave wondered.

“Vashta Nerada, I’m guessing,” Ariel called. “They live in the darkness and a shadow is dark so,” she trailed off, leaving Other Dave to come to his own conclusions.

Ariel peered down at the Library system.

“We should start with calling up the data core,” Ariel mumbled to Proper Dave. “We need to find out all we can about this place. Maybe, we can find out more information about what happened here a hundred years ago.”

“Agreed,” Proper Dave nodded. “There are dozens of security protocols though,” he sighed. “This is going to take ages.”

“Well then, we’d better get started,” Ariel smirked.

Across the room, the Doctor glared at the mysterious woman. “Look, I don’t know who you are or why you act like we’re together, but you just need to know this. I will not leave Ariel,” he insisted. “No matter who you are. I’m not leaving her,” he snapped.

“Oh, look at you,” River sighed. “Loyal from the very beginning. I still envy the pair of you. What you have,” she shook her head. “It’s not easy to try and replicate.”

“No, it isn’t,” the Doctor said. “So, don’t try to act like you understand,” he muttered. “Now, what exactly did you say to her to make her trust you because she was sick at the very thought of coming here because of you.”

“I told her something she entrusted me with. Years from now,” River breathed with wide eyes. “Doctor, you really don’t know me do you?”

“Who are you?” The Doctor said, shaking his head in confusion.

All of a sudden, there was a loud ringing that echoed across the room. It sounded a lot like a phone.

The Doctor and River jumped up as Ariel turned around and held her hands up awkwardly.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ariel winced. “We didn’t mean to do that.”

The Doctor smiled at her adorably innocent expression. She looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Is everything alright?” The Doctor asked, concern growing over what the mystery woman tried to force Ariel to do.

“Yeah, sorry that was us,” Proper Dave nodded. “We’ve been trying to get through into the security protocols. We seem to have set something off,” he sighed. “What is that?” He wondered, narrowing his eyes at the computer. “Is that an alarm?”

“Doctor?” Donna prompted. “Doctor, that sounds like-.”

“It is,” the Doctor nodded with wide eyes. “It’s a phone.”

“I’m trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding,” Proper Dave told the group. “Just that noise,” he sighed.

“But it’s a phone,” Donna breathed.

“Let me try something,” the Doctor said.  He ran over and pulled out his sonic, moving Proper Dave and Ariel to the side as he typed through his computer.

The Doctor got the ringing to stop but the screen still flashed red and said: Access Denied.

“Okay, doesn't like that,” the Doctor hummed. “Let's try something else.”

“Hold on, let me try too,” Ariel mumbled. The Doctor moved to the side so she had room to type while he continued to sonic the computer.

The screen flashed and looked like a TV turning itself off and then on again.

“Okay, here it comes,” the Doctor nodded, putting his sonic away.

The screen opened up to an image of a little girl with dark hair sitting on the floor in her sitting room with papers flooding her table.

“Hello?” The Doctor frowned.

“Hello,” she smiled kindly. “Are you in my television?”

“Well, no, I'm, I'm sort of in space,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Doctor, I think we’re appearing on her television,” Ariel whispered to the Doctor, never taking her eyes off the young girl. “That looks like her sitting room.”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the screen, seeming to be even more confused by the little girl.

“Er, I was trying to call up the data core of a triple grid security processor,” the Doctor told the little girl.

“Would you like to speak to my Dad?” The little girl asked.

“Dad or your Mum,” the Doctor nodded, still feeling the situation was extremely strange, but willing to go with the flow as he had always done. “That’d be lovely.”

The girl seemed like she was about to get up when she turned to the screen with a small frown. “I know you. You’re in my library.”

“Your library?” The Doctor prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“This place is yours?” Ariel frowned.

“The library's never been on the television before,” the little girl shook her head. “What have you done?”

“Er, well, we just rerouted the interface,” the Doctor shrugged just as the screen seemed to be turning off once again.

“No, no, no!” Ariel exclaimed and started typing furiously.

“What happened?” River frowned. “Who was that?”

The screen flashed red. Access denied again.

“Damn, it’s kicking us out!” Ariel snapped, kicking the computer in frustration.

“I need another terminal,” the Doctor mumbled. “Can you get them to keep working on those lights?” He asked, seeing nobody was working on the lights. “We need those lights!” He exclaimed to the group, running to another terminal.

Ariel nodded and began grabbing some of the lights they had laid out to turn them on and form a circle.

“You heard him, people. Let there be light!” River called, running after the Doctor to follow him.

The group all started placing lights around in a circle like the Doctor had instructed.

It was just a few minutes until random books starting flying off the shelves like they were being pushed out by some strange force.

“What's that? I didn't do that. Did you do that?” The Doctor asked Proper Dave.

“Not me,” Proper Dave shrugged.

“What the hell is that?” Ariel frowned, standing up and staring at the flying books.

The Doctor’s screen said: Cal Access Denied.

“What’s Cal?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Ow!” Ariel exclaimed as a book hit her in the back

“Sorry!” The Doctor called.

Ariel sighed and raced up to him, nudging him to the side. “Let me try,” she said.

She put the lights in her hand down on the table beside the computer terminal and turned to the screen.

She typed around on the computer for a minute, and just by sheer luck, the little girl they had seen stopped pressing buttons on her remote and the bombardment of books stopped.

“What did you do?” The Doctor asked. “How did you do that?”

“I plugged an antivirus into the computer. I had to learn it when I was working in a library growing up. Kids would always download stuff onto the computer and leave it,” Ariel shrugged. “Plus when you’re the only person under fifty working there you’re kind of always trusted to be the one in charge of the computers. That’s the only reason I’m so good with them. Four years of figuring computers out as your job, you would be too.”

“Blimey,” the Doctor sighed. “Alright then, you’d better stay here.”  
Ariel grinned. “Just let me put these lights down,” she said, holding up the lights.

As she walked away, the bombardment of books started up again and Ariel sighed in irritation.

She placed the lights down in the circle and the Doctor waved her through to the computer, pulling out his sonic to try and help her.

“What’s causing that?” River asked. “Is it the little girl?”

“If I had to guess? Probably,” Ariel shrugged.

“But who is the little girl? What's she got to do with this place? How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's Cal?” The Doctor asked, rambling off questions.

“Ask Mister Lux,” River shrugged.

The Doctor turned to Mister Lux with a raised eyebrow. “Cal, what is it?” He prompted.

“Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts,” Mister Lux shrugged.

Ariel rolled her eyes. “Being unhelpful again!” Ariel snapped.

“You should tell your girlfriend that’s she’s a bit rude,” Mister Lux muttered.

“No, actually I won’t,” the Doctor said. “Because, for starters, she’s telling the truth and secondly you don’t get to tell me how I talk to her,” he snapped and Ariel grinned. “Mister Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?”

“I’m protecting my family’s pride!” Mister Lux exclaimed.

“Well, funny thing, Mister Lux,” the Doctor shrugged. “I don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important.”

“Then why don't you sign his contract?” River wondered, smirking knowingly at the couple. “I didn't either. I'm getting worse than either of you,” she grinned.

“Okay, okay, okay,” the Doctor sighed before looking at River and Mister Lux and taking a deep breath. “Let's start at the beginning,” he nodded. “What happened here? On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what physically happened?”

“There was a message from the Library,” River said. “Just one. The lights are going out. Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for a hundred years.”

“It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in,” Mister Lux added with a nod.

“Er, excuse me?” Miss Evangelista prompted.

“Not just now,” Mister Lux sighed.

“There was one other thing in the message,” River said and the Doctor and Ariel stared at her with wide, curious eyes.

“That’s confidential,” Mister Lux frowned.

“I trust these two with my life, with everything,” River told Mister Lux.

“You’ve only just met them!” Mister Lux exclaimed.

“No,” River sighed. “They’ve only just met me,” she corrected. 

“Er, this might be important, actually,” Miss Evangelista frowned.

“In a moment!” Mister Lux snapped. He was furious that his entire teamed seemed to be turning on him for a man they hardly knew and an eighteen-year-old girl.

River held up her portable computer so the Doctor and Ariel could see. “This is a data extract that came with the message,” she said.

“Four thousand and twenty two saved. No survivors,” the Doctor read.

“Four thousand and twenty two,” River nodded. “That's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed.”

“But how can four thousand and twenty two people have been saved if there were no survivors?” Donna wondered.

“That’s what we’re here to find out,” River sighed.

“And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies,” Mister Lux mumbled.

“Oh, bright and cheery you are,” Ariel murmured.

Just then, a loud piercing shriek flooded the Library and they all looked up with wide eyes.

“Come on!” The Doctor cried, grabbing Ariel’s hand and taking off running to the source of the scream.


	26. Vashta Nerada

They bolted through a shorted passageway to a small lecture hall finding a skeleton in rags.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel gasped, jumping back at the sight.

“Everybody, careful. Stay in the light,” the Doctor instructed.

“You keep saying that,” Proper Dave frowned. “I don’t see the point.”

Ariel almost wanted to roll her eyes at the man. She couldn’t understand why they were all so opposed to listening to the Doctor. In the end, he was going to end up being the man helping them stay alive and they acted like following his instructions was the most irritating thing they had encountered. Ariel knew full well that following the Doctor’s instructions is what had kept her alive so long. 

If she didn’t start following his advice from the moment she met him, she would’ve been killed by a Dalek and not standing there alive to that day. He knew more about what they were facing than anybody, so he knew how to avoid dying by its hands.

“Who screamed?” The Doctor prompted.

“Miss Evangelista,” Proper Dave shrugged.

“Where is she?” The Doctor breathed, but he and Ariel already knew the answer. 

Ariel couldn’t seem to take her eyes off of the skeleton. Whatever they were facing had done that to her in mere seconds. Even a foot in the shadows and they were dead before they could even realize what they had done.

“Miss Evangelista, please state your current,” River said into her comms, but frowned when she heard her voice echoed back to her from very nearby. “Please state your current position,” she breathed, stepping towards the skeleton and revealing a lit comms unit on the skeleton’s shoulder. “It’s her,” River mumbled. “It’s Miss Evangelista.”

“We heard her scream a few seconds ago,” Anita frowned. “What could do that to a person in a few seconds?” She wondered.

“It took a lot less than few seconds,” the Doctor murmured.

“Okay, even more terrified now,” Ariel breathed.

The Doctor smiled softly and wrapped his arm around Ariel, pressing a kiss to the top of her head to silently reassure her that it would be okay. Ariel took a deep breath and closed her eyes, nodding and willing herself to believe that they would make it out alive.

“What did this?” Anita wondered.

Before they could answer her, Miss Evangelista’s comms unit lit up. “Hello?” Her voice spoke out from the comms.

“Whoa,” Ariel breathed with wide eyes. The sound of the woman’s voice with the sight of her skeleton right beside it was uncomfortable to say the least.

“Er, I'm sorry, everyone,” River frowned. “Er, this isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting,” River sighed.

Ariel didn’t know what it was, but she guessed it had something to do with the communication units and the person dying while wearing them. It was the fifty first century after all. Maybe, the technology could hold onto a bit of the person before they were gone for good. She knew Miss Evangelista was dead, but a fragment of her mind must’ve been caught in the unit momentarily. She thought of it the way River described it, like she was an actual ghost, but just in the comms unit.

“She’s what?” Donna breathed

“This is horrible,” Ariel winced. She buried her face in the Doctor’s chest and he rubbed her back to comfort her. 

“Hello? Excuse me. I'm sorry. Hello? Excuse me,” Miss Evangelista said.

“That's, that's her, that's Miss Evangelista,” Donna nodded, pointing a shaky finger at the comms unit.

Ariel felt an uncomfortable knot in her stomach listening to the dead woman speak. She decided that just because people could improve technology didn’t mean that they should.

“I don't want to sound horrible, but couldn't we just, you know?” Proper Dave shrugged, gesturing to the comms.

“Just because it’s uncomfortable doesn’t mean we should just do that,” Ariel shook her head.

“Exactly. This is her last moment. No, we can't. A little respect, thank you,” River requested. 

“Sorry, where am I?” Miss Evangelista asked. “Excuse me?”

“But that’s Miss Evangelista,” Donna shook her head.

“It's a data ghost,” River shrugged. “She'll be gone in a moment,” she told Donna before turning to her comms and speaking to Miss Evangelista. “Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax. We'll be with you presently.”

“What’s a data ghost?” Donna frowned. 

“There's a neural relay in the communicator,” the Doctor explained, his tone softly so they wouldn’t disturb Miss Evangelista. “Lets you send thought mail. That's it there. Those green lights,” he said, pointing at the green lights that started to fade on Miss Evangelista’s comms. “Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an afterimage,” he shrugged.

“Think of it like an actual ghost. Like the ones in films? Someone that died and is still there but not really,” Ariel compared.

“My grandfather lasted a day,” Anita smirked. “Kept talking about his shoelaces,” she sighed.

“She’s in there,” Donna breathed.

“I can't see. I can't. Where am I?” Miss Evangelista asked.

“She's just brain waves now. The pattern won't hold for long,” Proper Dave sighed.

“But, she's conscious. She's thinking,” Donna reasoned.

“I can't see, I can't. I don't know what I'm thinking,” Miss Evangelista said.

“She's a footprint on the beach,” the Doctor mumbled to Donna. “And the tide's coming in.”

Donna’s eyes widened as she finally understood what they meant and Ariel felt horrible at the sight. She didn’t want anyone to think about how they were listening to Miss Evangelista speak but couldn’t do anything for her. It was killing Ariel to even think about it herself.

“Where's that woman? The nice woman. Is she there?” Miss Evangelista asked.

“What woman?” Mister Lux frowned.

“Yeah, who is she talking about?” Ariel asked, peering around the room.

“She means. I think she means me,” Donna breathed.

“Is she there? The nice woman,” Miss Evangelista requested.

“Yes, she's here,” River nodded. “Hang on,” she said before tapping a few buttons on her comms unit. “Go ahead,” she said to Donna. “She can hear you.”

“Hello? Are you there?” Miss Evangelista said.

“Help her,” the Doctor mumbled to Donna.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you,” Ariel nodded with a soft smile. Donna was one of the kindest people Ariel knew. She was a wonderful friend and she always thought everybody deserved a fighting chance. If anybody could help Miss Evangelista then, it was her.

“She’s dead,” Donna frowned.

“Yeah,” the Doctor nodded. “Help her.”

“You can do it, Donna,” Ariel smiled.

Donna took a deep breath.

“Hello? Is that the nice woman?” Miss Evangelista asked.

Donna glanced back at the couple and they both nodded to her with grins, they both believed she was more than capable of helping a lost woman find her way.

“Hello? Is that the nice woman?”

“Yeah. Hello. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm here,” Donna stammered. “You okay?” She prompted.

“What I said before, about being stupid,” Miss Evangelista reminded Donna and Ariel’s heart sank. She wished she had taken the time to get to know the dark haired woman before she passed on. Instead, she just spent all her time working with the Doctor and being jealous of River. “Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh,” Miss Evangelista requested.

“Course I won't,” Donna shrugged. “Course I won't tell them.”

“Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh,” Miss Evangelista repeated.

“I won't tell them. I said I won't,” Donna nodded.

“Don't tell the others, they'll only laugh,” Miss Evangelista said once again. 

Donna glanced at the group with a small frown in confusion. “I’m not going to tell them,” she assured Miss Evangelista.

The green light on Miss Evangelista’s comms unit started blinking. “She’s going,” Ariel announced, gesturing to the blinking light.

“Don’t tell the others they’ll only laugh,” Miss Evangelista said again.

“She’s looping now,” River nodded. “The pattern’s degrading.”

“I can't think. I don't know, I, I, I, I scream,” Miss Evangelista stammered. “Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream,” she began repeating.

Ariel took a deep breath. “Could we just?” She prompted, gesturing to the comms unit. It was one think to turn her off when she was still speaking, but completely different when all she was repeating was ice cream.

River nodded and stepped forward. “Does anybody mind if I?” She asked, glancing at the rest of the group to make sure nobody posed any objections.

They all shook their heads and River pulled off the comms unit.

“That was, that was horrible,” Donna gasped. “That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen.”

“No. It's just a freak of technology,” River shook her head. “But whatever did this to her,” she mumbled, glancing down at the skeleton. “Whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and tightened his arm around Ariel. “I’ll introduce you,” he sighed.

They all marched out into the rotunda and the Doctor clenched his jaw, ready to start fighting. He had been ready to run before, but with people now willing to trust him and Ariel not leaving his side, he genuinely started to believe he could face the Vashta Nerada.

“I’m going to need a packed lunch!” The Doctor announced.

“Hang on!” River exclaimed as she knelt to the ground and started fishing through her bag.

She pulled out a small blue book and the Doctor grabbed River’s hand to stop her.

“What’s in that book?” The Doctor asked.

“Spoilers,” River shrugged, pulling her hand out of his grasp and continuing to fish through her bag.

Ariel watched River with sad eyes. It was horrible to see her act like the Doctor not knowing her didn’t bother her. It looked like how it feels the day after you break up with someone and have to face them in school or in work. Ariel felt horrible for her.

“Who are you?” The Doctor asked.

“Professor River Song, University of-,” River began.

“To me,” the Doctor corrected. “Who are you to me and Ariel?” He asked.

“Again, spoilers,” River nodded.

“What did you say to make her trust you?” The Doctor wondered.

“Once again, spoilers,” River sighed before holding up her lunch in a metal container. “Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out.”

The Doctor eyed her warily for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding, grabbing the lunch from River.

“Right, you lot!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada.”

The Doctor handed the lunch to Ariel and headed to the front of the room, laying on his side and pressing his ear to the ground as he pulled out his sonic and scanning for the Vashta Nerada.

He scanned in silence for a bit while River walked up to Donna and started talking to the redhead. Ariel sat by the Doctor’s side and watched him closely, waiting for him to give the signal to toss the food to the Vashta Nerada. If they were meat eaters, they would love to eat the chicken River had in her salad.

“Proper Dave, could you move over a bit?” The Doctor requested.

“Why?” Proper Dave frowned.

“Oh, just do as he says,” Ariel sighed. “If he’s scanning for something dangerous do you really wanna be in front of it?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Doctor smirked and nodded. “Over there by the water cooler,” he instructed. “Thanks,” he nodded.

The Doctor continued to scan in silence as Ariel moved with him before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“What did she say?” The Doctor asked. “Because you didn’t like her until you two started talking. What did she say to make you trust her?”

“It was something I wouldn’t tell anyone unless I trusted them completely,” Ariel sighed. “You’ll find out when you’re supposed to,” she nodded.

“Oh, is it one of the secrets?” The Doctor frowned. He had been more anxious than ever to learn what the secrets Ariel was hiding from him were ever since she had turned him down after their date. He didn’t know how bad they were, but he didn’t think they could be worse than what he had done in his past.

“Yeah,” Ariel smiled. “But don’t worry. You’ll find out one of these days.”

“Yeah, one of these days isn’t soon enough,” the Doctor mumbled.

“I know you’re upset,” Ariel sighed. “And I’m sorry, but there isn’t much I can do other than tell you that River is trustworthy.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and looked up at Ariel. He hadn’t meant to make her feel bad. He was frustrated by the events but he knew it wasn’t her fault. He sat up and gave her a quick, gentle kiss on the lips.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor sighed and shook his head. “I know it isn’t your fault,” he nodded.

Ariel smiled softly at him and nodded and he laid back down on the ground to scan for the Vashta Nerada. “I love you,” she said.

“I love you too,” the Doctor grinned.

The Doctor continued to scan for the Vashta Nerada and inhaled sharply when he detected one nearby. Ariel sat up straighter, reaching her hand in the lunch to hold the chicken delicately as the Doctor pressed a finger to his lips. 

“What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?!” Donna exclaimed loudly.

“Donna!” The Doctor reprimanded. “Quiet, we’re working,” he muttered.

“Sorry,” Donna mumbled.

“Do you have a live one?” Ariel breathed. “A Vashta Nerada?”

“I think so,” the Doctor hummed. “If I could just get a bit closer.”

“Are they only in some shadows? Like couldn’t they technically be in every one?” Ariel asked.

“They can be in every one, but they’re only in some,” the Doctor nodded. “They problem is with a dark place like this it’s hard to tell which one. Usually they stick out. The darkest shadows mean there’s probably Vashta Nerada in them, but here-,” he sighed.

“There’s dark shadows all over,” Ariel nodded.

“Exactly,” the Doctor hummed before jumping to his feet. “Okay, got a live one!” He announced loudly and Ariel jumped up with wide eyes. “That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm. Ariel?” He prompted.

Ariel nodded and tossed the chicken leg into the darkness the Doctor was pointing his sonic at. The meat on the chicken was eaten and reduced to nothing but the bone in mere seconds.

“Bloody hell,” Ariel breathed.

“The piranhas of the air,” the Doctor sighed. “The Vashta Nerada. Literally, the shadows that melt the flesh,” he nodded. “Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive,” he mumbled.

“What do you mean, most planets? Not Earth?” Donna assumed with wide eyes.

“Mmm,” the Doctor nodded. “Earth, and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat-.”

“And darkness,” Ariel added.

“There's Vashta Nerada,” the Doctor carried on speaking. It was strange to keep up with the pair of them. They spoke as though they were one mind sometimes. Donna was slowly growing adjusted to it but every explorer except River seemed confused at the sight. “You can see them sometimes, if you look. The dust in sunbeams.”

“If they were on Earth, we’d know,” Donna nodded.

“Nah,” the Doctor shrugged.

“They wouldn’t just come up and grab you from the darkness like here. There’s not as many of them,” Ariel nodded.

“Normally they live on roadkill,” the Doctor continued. “But sometimes people go missing,” he hummed. “Not everyone comes back out of the dark.”

“Every shadow?” River frowned, looking back at the shadows behind her.

“Not every shadow,” Ariel assured her.

“No,” the Doctor nodded. “But any shadow,” he shrugged.

“So what do we do?” River wondered.

“Daleks, aim for the eyestalk,” the Doctor sighed. “Sontarans, back of the neck. Vashta Nerada? Run. Just run,” he shrugged.

“Run?” River said with wide eyes. “Run where?”

“Fight how?” Ariel retorted with the same gaze. “How do you fight the darkness?” She wondered.

“This is an index point. There must be an exit teleport somewhere,” the Doctor muttered, glancing around the room. His eyes fell on Mister Lux and he raised an eyebrow at him. In turn, everyone in the room slowly did the same.

“Don't look at me, I haven't memorised the schematics,” Mister Lux shrugged, glancing at all of them with wide eyes.

Donna looked at the small sign guiding them to the shop and grinned. “Doctor, the little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff!” She exclaimed.

The Doctor beamed at the shop and the redhead. “You're right. Brilliant!” He cried, laughing as he jumped up. “That's why I like the little shop,” he hummed.

“Okay, let’s move it,” Proper Dave nodded and started marching towards the shop.

As he did so, Ariel inhaled sharply and stared down at his shadow, tugging on the Doctor’s arm and pointing at it.

Count the shadows.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he stepped forward, grabbing Proper Dave’s arm and stopping him in his tracks.

“Actually, Proper Dave? Could you stay where you are for a moment?” The doctor requested, keeping his tone calm so Proper Dave couldn’t panic.

“Why?” Proper Dave frowned.

“I'm sorry,” the Doctor sighed. “I am so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows.”

Proper Dave looked behind him and with wide eyes spotted the two identical shadows at right angles to each other.

“It's how they hunt,” the Doctor explained forlornly. “They latch on to a food source and keep it fresh.”

“What do I do?” Proper Dave asked, his shaky voice betraying his nerves.

“Don’t move,” Ariel instructed. “Don’t let your shadows or your body cross any other shadow.”

The Doctor nodded. “You need to stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps.”

“We’re not leaving you, Dave,” River said.

“Oh, we wouldn’t dare,” Ariel sighed.

“Course we're not leaving him,” the Doctor shrugged. “Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me.”

Proper Dave stared at the Doctor with teary eyes. “On the floor, by my bag,” he mumbled.

Anita started to go and get it and the Doctor held out his hand to stop her. “Don’t cross his shadow!” The Doctor snapped.

Anita nodded and moved around Proper Dave’s shadow to grab the helmet. She passed it to the Doctor.

“Thanks,” the Doctor nodded. “Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got.”

The Doctor put Proper Dave’s helmet back on and Ariel passed Anita’s helmet to her so she could put it on.

“But Doctor, we haven’t got any helmets,” Donna reminded them.

“Yeah, but we’re safe anyway,” the Doctor shrugged.

“How are we safe?” Donna wondered, frowning at the Doctor.

“We're not,” the Doctor sighed. “That was a clever lie to shut you up,” he said before turning to River. “Professor, anything I can do with the suit?” He asked.

“We can increase the mesh density,” River nodded. “Dial it up four hundred percent. Make it a tougher meal.”

“Okay,” the Doctor said. He used his screwdriver to adjust Proper Dave’s suit before holding it up to River. “Eight hundred percent. Pass it on,” he instructed. He was about to toss her the sonic when she held up a sonic screwdriver of her own making both Ariel and the Doctor gape at her.

“Gotcha,” River nodded.

“What’s that?” The Doctor frowned.

“It’s a screwdriver,” River shrugged.

“Yeah, I know,” River nodded with a small smile as she saw Ariel staring at her in surprise. “Snap,” she smirked at the woman before turning to upgrade everyone’s suit.

The Doctor took a deep breath and turned to the redhead and the brunette. “With me, come on,” he said, grabbing each of their hands and dragging them into the little shop.

In the shop there were a bunch of small tables with items across them and the Doctor let go of their hands to run towards a lectern by a small dais with three roundels in it.

“What are we doing? We shopping? Is it a good time to shop?” Donna asked, frowning at the area.

“No talking, just moving,” the Doctor instructed, pointing both of the women onto the dais. “Try it. Right, stand there in the middle. It's a teleport. Stand in the middle. Can't send the others, Tardis won't recognise them,” he shrugged.

“Oh, hell no!” Ariel snapped. “We said we would do this together, Doctor!”

“What are you doing?” Donna frowned.

“I don’t have a choice. I don’t want to put you at risk. These things, they could kill you before I even got the chance to pull you out of the shadows,” the Doctor said.

“Well, I don’t want you at risk either. Even if you regenerate, they’ll still be killing you. Do you think that’s any easier for me?” Ariel asked with wide eyes.

“What’s going on?” Donna asked.

“This is how it is, Doctor. I’m not going to leave your side. No matter what. I don’t care about the risk if it means I can make sure you’re safe. You shouldn’t either,” Ariel said.

“This is me keeping you safe,” the Doctor insisted.

“No, this is you trying to do what you did to me the first day we met. You wanted to keep me away. Don’t do that to me now,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, raking his fingers through his hair. “I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“You never have been able to,” Ariel smiled softly. “That’s just a nice lie you say so you don’t have to face the truth. I’m always at risk, Doctor.”

The Doctor sighed and nodded. “Alright, but I’m still sending, Donna,” the Doctor insisted and Ariel nodded. He wanted to be sure he could protect at least one of them and that was understandable.

“What? No, where the hell are you sending me?” Donna asked.

“To the Tardis,” the Doctor said, running up behind the lectern and adjusting it once again. “You don't have a suit. You're not safe.”

“Neither of you have a suit, so you're in just as much danger as I am and I'm not leaving the pair of you,” Donna insisted.

Ariel smiled. She loved having a friend like Donna. Someone who was so firm in her beliefs and loyalty. Donna was kind, strong-hearted and a hell of a best friend.

“Donna, let me explain,” the Doctor said just as he pulled one of the levers and Donna disappeared from sighed.

“Oh, that’s how you do it,” the Doctor hummed and Ariel grinned up at him.

He walked over to her with a large smile and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Did you really mean what you said back there?” The Doctor asked.

“Every word,” Ariel beamed.

He sighed and grinned at her. She was the definition of perfection. He lowered his head to her slowly and pressed his lips softly against hers. The kiss was delicate at first displaying all the signs of him pulling away just as quickly as he had kissed her in the first place. Ariel smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, deepening the kiss as the Doctor moaned against her lips and tightened his grip around her waist.

He deepened the kiss and she lost herself in him, tangling her fingers through his hair.

All too soon, they were pulled away from each other as a distant voice called out to them.

“Ariel! Doctor!” River called.

The Doctor groaned and pulled away as Ariel giggled and grabbed his hand. They ran out to see everyone staring at Proper Dave and the ground with curious frowns.

“The second shadow,” River said. “It’s gone.”

“Where did it go?” The Doctor frowned, walking up to Proper Dave and pulling out his sonic to scan him.

“It's just gone,” Proper Dave shrugged. “I looked round, one shadow, see.”

“What?” Ariel said. “It’s just gone? It just disappeared?”

“I guess so,” Proper Dave, grateful that he wasn’t on the chopping block anymore.

“Does that mean we can leave?” River wondered. “I don't want to hang around here,” she hummed uneasily.

“I don't know why we're still here,” Mister Lux sighed. “We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence.”

“Really?” Ariel prompted. “Because that sounded pretty offensive,” she remarked.

“Oh, just shut up, Mister Lux,” River moaned.

“Did you feel anything, like an energy transfer?” The Doctor prompted with a small frown. “Anything at all?”

“No, no,” Proper Dave shook his head. “But look, it’s gone,” Proper Dave said, beginning to turn around. 

“Stop there!” The Doctor snapped. “Stop, stop, stop there. Stop moving. They're never just gone and they never give up,” he muttered.

He fell to the ground and began scanning Proper Dave’s only shadow.

“Well, this one’s benigne,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave asked.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a concerned frown and the rest of the group stared at Proper Dave with wide eyes.

“No one they’re fine,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Yeah, the lights are still on,” Ariel said.

“No seriously, turn them back on,” Proper Dave sighed.

“They are on,” River nodded.

“I can’t see a ruddy thing,” Proper Dave muttered.

The Doctor stood up and shot Ariel a wary glance. “Dave, turn around,” the Doctor murmured.

Dave turned back to the Doctor and his visor was completely dark.

Ariel gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as she stared at Proper Dave with wide eyes.

“What's going on?” Proper Dave asked. “Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?”

“Proper Dave, don’t move. You’re alright, you’re good,” Ariel nodded. “Just don’t move.”

“Do as she says Dave, I want you stay still. Absolutely still,” the Doctor instructed.

Proper Dave jerked upwards and Ariel darted up to him as the Doctor held out a hand as if to steady him.

“Dave? Dave?” The Doctor asked desperately. “Dave, can you hear me? Are you alright? Talk to me, Dave,” he begged.

“I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm fine,” Proper Dave said and Ariel let out a soft sigh of relief.

“I want you to stay still. Absolutely still,” the Doctor instructed.

“I'm fine. I'm okay,” Proper Dave assured him. “I'm fine. I can't. Why can't I? I, I can't. Why can't I? I, I can't. Why can't I? I,” he stammered.

Ariel inhaled sharply as she looked at the green lights flickering on his comms unit. “Doctor,” she breathed and gestured to his comms unit. “It’s too late.”

The Doctor heaved a deep sigh, feeling as though he was responsible for not saving Proper Dave’s life.

“He’s gone,” River announced. “He’s ghosting.”

“Then why is he still standing?” Mister Lux wondered with a small frown.

Ariel’s eyes widened. “Good question,” she remarked.

The Doctor tiptoed closer to Proper Dave gradually and Ariel placed her hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t,” Ariel breathed.

“It’s fine,” the Doctor nodded.

“Doctor, don’t,” River warned.

“Dave, can you hear me?” The Doctor asked.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Proper Dave asked once again before reaching a hand out and wrapping his fingers around the Doctor’s neck. A skull lit up the inside of Dave’s helmet and squeezed tighter.

“Doctor!” Ariel shrieked and immediately started trying to pull the skeleton off of the Doctor.

“Who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?”

She placed her foot on the skeleton’s chest and tried to wrench its hand off of the Doctor, but the skeleton had the strength of a thousand men and stayed firm in his grip.

“Excuse me,” River said, gently pushing Ariel off the skeleton and shoving her sonic into the skeleton’s suit.

It electrocuted them and freed the Doctor from Zombie Dave’s grasp. 

“Back from it! Get back. Right back!” The Doctor cried to everyone.

He scrambled up and Ariel grabbed him. They both shared a breathless, wide eyed gaze. 

The Doctor nodded his thanks to both the women before they all ran back and watched Zombie Dave stumble and try to walk towards them.

“Doesn't move very fast, does it?” River frowned.

“It’s a swarm in a suit,” the Doctor sighed. “But it’s learning,” he hummed.

They looked down and saw Zombie Dave walk with four shadows in front of him rather than just two. The shadows started growing towards them and Ariel watched in horror.

“What do we do?” Mister Lux asked, glancing around wildly.

Ariel spun and saw nothing but shelves behind them. She sighed softly and closed her eyes. Of all the ways to go she never imagined a skeleton in a spacesuit in the middle of a library.

“Duck!” River cried.

Ariel’s eyes flashed and she frowned but complied without even looking back to see what River was doing. Some gut instinct told her to trust the woman.

River fired a gun at the wall and a perfect square hole in it. 

Ariel stood up and giggled. “Ah, brilliant!” She exclaimed.

“Squareness gun!” The Doctor laughed. He ran forward and grabbed Ariel’s hand before even considering trying to escape Zombie Dave.

“Everybody out. Go, go, go. Move it. Move, move. Move it. Move, move!” River yelled, waving everybody through the hole in the wall.

The Doctor and Ariel ran through first and eventually everyone else followed. River came through last and glanced around warily at the shadows surrounding them.

“You said not every shadow,” River reminded them.

“But any shadow,” the Doctor nodded.

“Which means we need to find light and fast,” Ariel sighed.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?” Zombie Dave said, his voice growing closer.

“Run!” River cried. She went to grab for Ariel or the Doctor’s hand but before she could do what had become instinct over time, a gesture that they would always do as a silent confirmation that they were with each other throughout the danger and fear, she noticed that Ariel and the Doctor had already joined hands and were running together themselves.

At the very start, they thought more for each other than they did for her and it shouldn’t have killed her but it did.

They eventually found cover in the stacks and after listening for a few minutes they found they couldn’t even hear the faint sound of Zombie Dave.

The expedition all sat down and the Doctor and Ariel spoke quietly to each other, murmuring ideas for a future plan.

River smiled as she watched the two people she loved. They were so attached to each other, even at the very beginning. It was beautiful to watch if she hadn’t felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the sight.

She knew she could never earn their love for her the way they loved each other. They would go to the ends of the universe for each other. They would kill for each other and while she knew they were both willing to die for her, she understood that they couldn’t love two different people as greatly as they loved each other.

Ariel nodded at the Doctor and grabbed a stack of books for him to step up on. She laid them on the floor and he hopped up sending a childlike grin down to her as she just giggled. 

He pulled his screwdriver out of his suit and began sonicking the light fitting.

River frowned. “What’s he doing?” She asked Ariel.

“He’s-,” Ariel began.

“Trying to boost the power,” the Doctor finished. “Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down.”

“Buy us some time for a plan,” Ariel shrugged. She leant down and grabbed the Doctor’s large brown coat and pulled it on as River frowned up at the Doctor.

River pulled out the sonic they had seen earlier and pointed it up at the light fitting, boosting the power in mere seconds and making the Doctor glare down at her.

“So, what's the plan?” River shrugged. “Do we have a plan?” She asked, seeming to be perfectly okay if they didn’t have a plan either. She seemed more than ready to go with the flow and Ariel smirked at her. She didn’t like when people asked the Doctor too many questions. It stressed him out and just irritated her. She liked that River got straight to the point and wanted to know if the Doctor had a plan immediately.

The Doctor, however, ignored her question and narrowed his eyes at the sonic. “Your screwdriver looks exactly like mine,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” River nodded. “You gave it to me.”

“I don’t give my screwdriver to anyone,” the Doctor hummed.

“You’ve given your screwdriver to me before,” Ariel frowned.

“Yeah, well, you’re you,” the Doctor shrugged. He could hardly compare Ariel to the woman he barely knew.

“And I’m me,” River nodded.

“Doctor,” Ariel sighed, walking up to his side and grabbing his hand. “River is from the future. She’s not some random woman who’s just trying to trick you,” she assured him. 

“Who are you?” The Doctor said, narrowing his eyes at her.

River and Ariel shared a tired look.

“What’s the plan?” River repeated, deciding not to get in another argument with the Doctor.

“I teleported Donna back to the Tardis,” the Doctor sighed. “If we don't get back there in under five hours, emergency program one will activate.”

“Take her home, yeah,” River nodded. “We need to get a shift on,” she called to the rest of the expedition who were still trying to catch their breaths.

The Doctor held his sonic up to his ear and frowned at something he wasn’t hearing.

“What is it?” Ariel asked. 

“She's not there,” the Doctor breathed.

“What?” Ariel gasped with wide eyes. “How do you know? And where could she be?”

“I should have received a signal,” the Doctor mumbled. “The console signals me if there's a teleport breach.”

“Well, maybe the coordinates have slipped,” River shrugged. “The equipment here's ancient.”

“That’s not possible,” Ariel shook her head. “I watched him. He triple checked to make sure it had sent her to the Tardis,” she insisted.

“Then where is she?” River wondered.

“Just what I was thinking,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor marched up to a nearby Node. “Donna Noble!” The Doctor exclaimed. “There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library. Do you have the software to locate her position?” He asked.

The Node turned its head and there was none other than Donna Noble staring down at them vacantly. 

“Oh, my God,” Ariel gasped, backing away and covering her mouth as her eyes widened in horror and she began to grow teary eyed at the very thought that her best friend might just be dead.

“Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved,” the Donna Node announced.

“Donna,” the Doctor breathed, delicately brushing the cheek of the Node.

“Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved,” the Donna Node repeated.

“How can it be Donna? How's that possible?” River wondered.

“I dunno,” Ariel muttered. “I know people have donating their faces when they died but the Node is saying she was saved.”

“Like the people in the library a hundred years ago,” River nodded.

“Except there were no survivors,” Ariel reminded her with wide eyes.

“Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved.”

Just then, a loud voice echoed through the stacks. “Hey, who turned out the lights?” Zombie Dave said.

Ariel inhaled sharply. “He found us.”

River looked at the Doctor who was still fixated on the face of Donna on the Node. “Doctor!” River cried.

Ariel’s eyes widened when she saw her boyfriend still foolishly standing there while Zombie Dave was marching towards them. 

“Doctor, come on!” Ariel yelled. She grabbed his hand, pulling it away from the Node to snap him into action. 

They all ran through the stacks away from Zombie Dave but soon wound up running into a corridor where the light was slowly fading and a dark shadow was taking its place. 

They tried to turn but spotted Zombie Dave walking towards them from the other direction.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Doctor, what are we going to do?” River asked.

The Doctor glanced at the rising shadow and Zombie Dave and his eyes widened, overwhelmed with the idea of having to make a decision so quickly.

Ariel took a deep breath and grabbed River’s squareness gun. “Move!” She barked at Mister Lux, still leaning on the wall. 

She shot the squareness gun at the wall and formed a perfect square hole. “Go, quickly!” Ariel insisted, waving everyone through.

She tossed River’s gun back to her with a smirk and the Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her deeply. He pulled away and cupped her cheek with a soft smile.

“You’re brilliant, you are,” the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel grinned. “As much as I love this, we need to get going,” she said, peering at the approaching Zombie Dave.

“Right,” the Doctor nodded. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the square hole in the wall.

Ahead of them, River continued making square holes in the walls and they followed her until all of them could look back and see it was safe.

Finally, they got back to a safe area with a small circle of light in the center of the floor. The rest of the area was dark as, above them, the sun went down and the moon rose.

“OK, we've got a clear spot. In, in, in! Right in the centre. In the middle of the light, quickly. Don't let your shadows cross. Ariel. Doctor,” River snapped.

“Yeah, we’re on it!” Ariel called, running across the floor to the Doctor’s side as he dropped to the ground and started sonicking the area.

“I’m doing it,” the Doctor nodded.

Anita tossed Ariel a torch and she shined it on the floor around her and the Doctor so the Vashta Nerada couldn’t reach them immediately. If they found a live one, they’d have time to get away.

“There's no lights here. Sunset's coming. We can't stay long,” River sighed. “Have you found a live one?”

“Maybe,” the Doctor mumbled. “It's getting harder to tell. What's wrong with you?” He frowned at his screwdriver, hitting it lightly.

“Oh, yeah, sure, hitting it is gonna help,” Ariel said sarcastically.

“Oh you, hush,” the Doctor smiled. He placed a quick kiss on her forehead and moved to continue scanning.

“We're going to need a chicken leg. Who's got a chicken leg?” River asked the group loudly. “Thanks, Dave,” she nodded.

Ariel grabbed the Doctor’s arm and pulled him away just as River tossed the chicken leg into the shadows.

It was bone before it hit the ground.

“Okay,” River nodded. “Okay, we've got a hot one. Watch your feet,” she instructed.

“They won't attack until there's enough of them,” the Doctor sighed. “But they've got our scent now. They're coming,” he muttered.

Ariel stood up and tapped the Doctor’s shoulder. She pointed up to the lights and he nodded, tossing her the sonic and grabbing a chair for her.

She stood on the chair and tried to boost the power of the light. It would save them time from having to leave immediately while there’s a swarm approaching.

The light flickered and got a bit brighter and she tossed the sonic down to the Doctor for him to start scanning.

“Professor, who are they?” Other Dave asked River. “You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust him?”

“They’re the Doctor and Ariel,” River shrugged. There would be a day when those names would be more than enough explanation, but the group just stared at her with confused frowns.

“And who are they?” Mister Lux prompted River.

“The only stories you'll ever tell, if you survive them,” River sighed.

“You say they’re your friends, but they don't even know who you are,” Anita shrugged.

“Listen, all you need to know is this. I'd trust those two to the end of the universe,” River smiled. “And actually, we've been,” she snapped.

The Doctor spun around and tossed the screwdriver to Ariel so she could continue working, but not before shooting a wary look at River.

“He doesn’t act like he trusts you,” Anita remarked.

“Yeah, there’s a tiny problem,” River nodded. “They haven’t met me yet!” She snapped.

The lights flickered brighter and Ariel tossed the sonic to the Doctor. She jumped down from the chair and ran to his side as River approached. 

He cursed under his breath and hit his screwdriver.

“What’s wrong with it?” River asked.

“There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Could you try elevating the settings?” Ariel guessed. 

“No, I already tried that,” the Doctor hummed. “It’s still not working.”

“Then use the red settings,” River nodded.

Ariel and the Doctor turned to her with identical small frowns. “It doesn’t have a red setting,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Well, use the dampers,” River sighed.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look.

“It doesn’t have dampers,” the Doctor frowned.

“It will do one day,” River said, pulling out the sonic screwdriver she had and showing it to them.

The Doctor and Ariel jumped up and the Doctor snatched the sonic screwdriver out of River’s hands.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed. “Don’t get angry again,” she warned. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical reason why you gave her your sonic.”

“So, some time in the future, I just give you my screwdriver,” the Doctor snapped, not listening to Ariel’s logic trying to fight through.

“Yeah,” River nodded with a smile.

“Hold on, he has never just given me his sonic. There’s always a reason. What, the future Doctor never gave you a reason?” Ariel prompted. “He just gave you the sonic as what, a nice Christmas present?”

“Why would I do that?” The Doctor wondered.

River turned to Ariel with a soft sigh. “I didn’t pluck it from his cold dead hands if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“How do I know that? For all I know you could’ve gained my trust then betrayed me and I’ve just been an idiot right now believing the opposite,” Ariel shrugged.

“You can trust me,” River assured them.

“And I know that, because?” The Doctor prompted.

“Listen to me. Both of you, listen,” River snapped. “You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand,” she nodded. “But the pair you need to be less emotional, right now.”

“Less emotional?” The Doctor scoffed. “I’m not emotional,” he shook his head.

“Who are you to call me emotional?” Ariel said with wide eyes.

“There are six people in this room still alive,” River snapped. “Dear God, both of you are hard work young.”

“Young?” The Doctor breathed. “Who are you?!”  He exclaimed.

“You never told me who you were, you just claimed we were travelling with him together in the future,” Ariel frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

“Oh, for heaven's sake!” Mister Lux exclaimed. “Look at the three of you. We're all going to die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couples,” he sighed.

The Doctor and Ariel turned back to River with wide eyes.

“Doctor, Ariel,  one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out,” River sighed. “I know you’ll trust him if I prove it to him, Ariel,” River said, turning to the Doctor. “So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry,” she nodded.

River leant forward and whispered in the Doctor’s ear. The Doctor’s eyes widened and Ariel raised an eyebrow. He nodded to her and she sighed and grabbed his sonic to scan the floor once again.

“Are we good?” River asked and the Doctor just stared at her with wide eyes. “Doctor, are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” the Doctor nodded.

“Ariel?” River prompted.

“We’re good,” Ariel nodded.

“Good,” River sighed. River took back her screwdriver and left the pair of them.

“Ariel,” the Doctor breathed. 

Without looking up, Ariel tossed his screwdriver and held up a hand. He helped her up and raised an eyebrow, silently asking her if the screwdriver was still being interfered with. She sighed and nodded.

The Doctor took a deep breath and grabbed her hand before turning to the group. “Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with. Practically nothing's strong enough. Well, some hairdryers, but I'm working on that,” the Doctor shrugged and Ariel snickered. 

“Same as you’re working on wood?” Ariel prompted.

“Oi, hush,” the Doctor mumbled, wrapping an arm around her and pressing a kiss to her temple. “So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before. So what's new? What's changed?” The Doctor asked and at the vacant expressions of the group, he rolled his eyes. “Come on!” The Doctor snapped. “What's new? What's different?” He asked.

“I don't know,” Other Dave shrugged. “Nothing. It's getting dark?” He guessed.

Ariel looked up at the sky while the Doctor rolled his eyes at the seemingly foolish remark.

“It's a screwdriver. It works in the dark,” the Doctor sighed.

“Wait, no,” Ariel shook her head. “Doctor, look. During the day we just had bright light, no sun, but now-,” she said, pointing up at the sky. 

“Moon rise,” the Doctor breathed. “Tell me about the moon. What's there?”

“It's not real. It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon,” Mister Lux shrugged.

“What’s a Doctor Moon?” The Doctor frowned, seeming slightly insulted. 

Ariel snickered. She cupped his left cheeks and kissed his right happily.

“A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet,” Mister Lux explained.

The Doctor used his sonic and pointed it up at the moon. “Well, still active. It's signalling. Look,” the Doctor said, gesturing for Ariel to listen close to the sounds coming from the sonic. “Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon,” he said.

“Or, possibly alive and drying their hair,” Ariel proposed with a small smirk

The Doctor chuckled and shook his head. “No, the signal is definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through.”

“Of course, it’s trying to break through it-,” Ariel began.

“Doctor, Ariel, look!” River exclaimed.

They looked up to see a blue holographic image of Donna standing before them with wide eyes. 

“Donna!” They exclaimed in unison. 

Just as quickly as she had appeared, Donna disappeared again.

“Donna’s alive!” Ariel exclaimed with a wide grin.

“That was her,” River nodded breathlessly. “That was your friend! Can you get her back? What was that?” She asked.

“If you block out the moon again we might be able to see her,” Ariel mumbled with wide eyes.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on,” the Doctor hummed. “I'm trying to find the wavelength. Argh, I'm being blocked,” he said bitterly.

“That Doctor Moon,” Ariel sighed. “It seems like it’s alive,” she said, shaking her head as she frowned up at it.

“Could be,” the Doctor nodded. “It could be what’s blocking Donna from us.”

“But even when you blocked the signal, she still appeared like a holograph and all blue. She must be being kept somewhere else,” Ariel sighed.

“Yeah, but where is the question,” the Doctor sighed.

“Do you think it could be-?” Ariel prompted, about to ask if it could be in the same world as the little girl they saw. 

“No, she seemed to be different. Like she said she owned the library,” the Doctor reminded her.

“Yeah, but that could be the saved portion,” Ariel nodded. “She saved her but she didn’t survive because she’s not really  _ here _ .”

“But that begs the question where the little girl is in the first place,” the Doctor frowned.

“And where she is if we can access her on a television,” Ariel sighed. Their answers to things just seemed to bring on more questions.

River watched the pair with wide eyes. They were thinking at a million miles an hour on the same track as each other even in the very beginning. She had learned to follow it over time, but it dazed her to watch just how close they had connected from the very beginning.  She felt a twinge of jealousy at the brunette, wishing she could’ve had the same relationship with the Doctor. However, they were right for each other. She knew it and she had to accept it.

“Professor?” Anita prompted.

“Just a moment,” River said, trying to tune back into their conversation. 

“It’s important,” Anita said shakily. “I have two shadows.”

The Doctor, River and Ariel all spun around at those four words and darted back over to Anita.

“Okay,” River sighed. “Helmets on, everyone. Anita, I'll get yours,” River nodded to the woman.

“It didn't do Proper Dave any good,” Anita sobbed.

“Just keep it together, okay?” River instructed.

“Keeping it together,” Anita sighed. “I'm only crying. I'm about to die. It's not an overreaction,” she said as tears continued to stream down her face.

River put Anita’s helmet on her. 

“Hold on,” Ariel mumbled. She pulled the Doctor to the side. “What if we darkened the visor?” She proposed. “The Vashta Nerada could assume they’re already in there,” she shrugged. “I mean, they’re a swarm, I doubt they’re stopping for a chat.”

“Good idea,” the Doctor hummed, nodding at her.

He walked back over to Anita and sonicked the visor black.

River spun around and inhaled sharply at the sight. “Oh God, they’ve got inside,” she sighed.

“No, no, no,” the Doctor assured her. “I just tinted her visor. Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone.”

“Do you think they can be fooled like that?” River frowned.

“Actually, Ariel thought, and neither of us really know. It’s a swarm, though. It’s not like we chat,” the Doctor said.

“It’s just an idea,” Ariel shrugged. “But right now it’s all any of us got,” she sighed and everyone, including Anita, nodded.

“It’s a good idea, my love,” River said.

“Can you still see in there?” Other Dave asked Anita.

“Just about,” Anita nodded.

“Just, just, just stay back. Professor, Ariel, a quick word, please,” the Doctor said, waving the two women away from the group.

“What?” River asked.

“Down here,” the Doctor nodded, gesturing to the ground. Each woman knelt on either side of the Doctor.

“What is it?” River asked.

“What’s going on, Doctor?” Ariel frowned.

“Look, you said there are six people still alive in this room,” the Doctor reminded her.

“Yeah, so?” River prompted.

“What about it?” Ariel shrugged.

“Why are there seven?” The Doctor wondered, his tone quiet so the other three didn’t panic immediately.

The women jumped up and looked at the seventh figure. Zombie Dave caught up with them.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Run!” The Doctor cried, grabbing Ariel’s hand and bolting out of the room.


	27. Everybody Lives

The six of them all bolted through the corridors as Zombie Dave chased them getting quicker as he grew adjusted to walking in the suit.

They neared the end of the corridor and the Doctor skidded to a stop. “Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot,” the Doctor instructed. The Doctor looked down at Ariel and she glared up at him.

“If you try to tell me to go with her I’ll smack you so hard you’ll regenerate,” Ariel snapped.

The Doctor grinned. “Ah, I love you,” he sighed. “We’ve got to try to reason with it.”

“It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit!” River exclaimed. “You can't reason with it!”

“Five minutes,” the Doctor requested.

River sighed. “Other Dave, stay with them. Ariel, pull him out when he's too stupid to live,” River instructed. “Two minutes, Doctor!” She yelled before running out with Anita and Mister Lux.

Zombie Dave barged through the door and Ariel and the Doctor spun around to him immediately.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

The Doctor bolted up to Zombie Dave. “You hear that? Those words?” The Doctor prompted. “That is the very last thought of the man who wore that suit before you climbed inside and stripped his flesh. That's a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don't have the decency to let him go, how about this? Use him. Talk to us. It's easy,” he shrugged. “Neural relay. Just point and think. Use him, talk to us.”

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“Come on,” Ariel hummed. “Just hear us out,” she nodded.

Zombie Dave was silent, but didn’t continue marching towards them.

“The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system, but you hunt in forests. What are you doing in a library?” The Doctor wondered.

“We should go, Doctor!” Other Dave cried.

“Just give us a second,” Ariel requested.

“Yeah, in a minute,” the Doctor nodded. “You came to the library to hunt. Why? Just tell us why?” He requested.

“We did not,” the Vashta Nerada began using Dave’s voice to speak to them.

“Oh, hello,” the Doctor hummed, grinning at Ariel and the Vashta Nerada.

“We did not,” the Vashta Nerada tried once again.

“Take it easy, you'll get the hang of it,” the Doctor nodded. “Did not what?”

“Did not come to the library to hunt?” Ariel guessed.

“We did not come here,” the Vashta Nerada told them and the couple shared a frown.

“Well, of course you did,” the Doctor shrugged. “Of course you came here.”

“How else would you be here?” Ariel asked.

“We come from here,” the Vashta Nerada replied. Ariel’s eyes widened at the statement.

“From here?” The Doctor prompted with a small frown. 

“We hatched here.”

“But you hatch from trees. From spores in trees,” the Doctor reasoned.

“There are no trees round here,” Ariel shook her head. “There certainly aren’t forests which you would need for a swarm of your size.”

“These are our forests.”

“You're nowhere near a forest,” the Doctor insisted. “Look around you,” he said, gesturing to the dozens of books surrounding them.

“These are our forests,” the Vashta Nerada repeated.

“You're not in a forest, you're in a library,” the Doctor told them, genuinely confused as to how they didn’t see that. “There are no trees in a library,” he breathed, glancing around with wide eyes as he and Ariel both simultaneously realized the same fact.

“We should go. Doctor!” Other Dave insisted.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel muttered. “The paper,” she nodded. “The paper in all these-.”

“Books,” the Doctor finished with a nod. “You came in the books. Microspores in a million, million books.”

“We should go. Doctor!” Other Dave exclaimed once again.

“All these books, bringing life to the Vashta Nerada,” Ariel sighed, spinning around as she looked at the bookshelves. 

“The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped and printed and bound,” the Doctor nodded. “A million, million books, hatching shadows.”

“We should go. Doctor!” Other Dave said.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look, both getting the same sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they turned to Other Dave and saw the skull light up his helmet.

“Oh, Dave!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Oh Dave, I'm so sorry.”

“I didn’t even know he had been targeted,” Ariel breathed. “I would’ve told him to darken his visor, oh, I feel awful,” Ariel moaned.

“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

“We should go. Doctor!”

The skeletons both spoke their final phrases, making their marches to the couple and cornering them.

“Please, tell me you have a plan because I have nothing,” Ariel mumbled.

“Thing about me, I'm stupid,” the Doctor smirked, nodding Ariel to his shoulders and silently telling her to latch on. She nodded and did as he asked. “I talk too much. Always babbling on,” he shrugged. “This gob doesn't stop for anything. Want to know the only reason I'm still alive? Always stay near the door,” he said. He held up his sonic screwdriver and sonicked the door Ariel hadn’t noticed open.

Ariel shrieked as they fell and her eyes widened as she held onto the Doctor’s shoulders while he clung to the support struts beneath the floor they had been standing on just moments before.

Ariel looked down and took a shaky breath. “Oh, you are mad,” Ariel sighed. “But that’s why I love you,” she grinned. She pulled herself off the Doctor’s shoulders and grabbed onto the support struts behind him, first using one hand then grabbing on with two and following the Doctor as they inched their way along.

Ariel took a deep breath as she looked down. If she had told herself that just a year ago she would be clinging to support struts above a nearly hundred foot drop, she would’ve laughed in her own face. 

The Doctor had awakened the nerve in her. He had taught her to make a stand. To fight back. To have the guts to do what’s right. It still made her terrified looking down beneath her, but looking at the Doctor inching his way along, she smiled and found the confidence to keep going further, even if it was just step by step.

He never gave her the nerve to do things, she had that in herself all along, she just needed someone to push her and say,  _ I know you don’t believe you can do this, but I do, so let’s do it. _ She needed someone to believe in her when she didn’t believe in herself and the Doctor did that, and she’d like to think that she did that for the Doctor. They balanced each other out. Whenever one was afraid, the other would be strong. 

Plus, she kept him sane when he was ready to blow up. She calmed his nerves and made sure he continued being the kind Doctor known throughout the universe. Someone who would help, not harm, and if he did harm and it was absolutely necessary, she was quick to help him and stand by his side even then.

The Doctor kicked open the window to a building they had reached and pulled himself inside. Ariel inched herself closer and then the Doctor held out his arms and helped her inside, closing the window with a sigh.

Ariel just grinned up at him and kissed him roughly. The Doctor smiled against her lips and kissed her back just as fiercely.

Meanwhile, a couple rooms away in the reading room, River sat, relaying her memories of the Doctor and Ariel with a wistful smile.

“My Doctor, I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And he'd just swagger off back to his Tardis and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. My Ariel,” River smiled. “Oh, she was brilliant in every sense of the word. She had enough love in her heart for two of his. Their love,” she sighed. “Oh, it was written throughout history. It was the sort of relationship everyone envied. When she was by his side, they could make fleets run in fear. They were wonderful. The Doctor and Ariel Parsons in the Tardis. Next stop, everywhere,” River grinned.

“Spoilers,” the Doctor said, staring down at the group from the railing of the second floor overlooking the room.

Ariel beamed down at them. “Hi,” she smirked. “Didn’t die,” she giggled. “But you already knew that,” she shrugged as the Doctor grabbed her hand and they ran down the steps to the floor where the group was staying.

“Nobody can open a Tardis by snapping their fingers,” the Doctor shook his head. “It doesn't work like that.”

He jumped over the small metal door leading up to the staircase and caught Ariel as she did the same.

“It does for the Doctor,” River nodded.

“Oh, blimey, I’m not getting in the middle of this one,” Ariel hummed, walking away with wide eyes.

“I am the Doctor,” the Doctor snapped.

“Yeah,” River sighed. “Some day.”

The Doctor looked like he was about to start yelling and Ariel ran up, stepping in front of him and pressing her hands against his chest.

“Just leave it,” Ariel instructed. “Okay?” She prompted. He looked like he wanted to argue and Ariel just shook her head. “Just leave it, Doctor.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded, turning his attention to Anita who had still not changed. 

“How are you doing?” The Doctor asked.

“Hold on,” River frowned. “Where’s Other Dave?”

“Not coming,” the Doctor mumbled. “Sorry.”

“They took him before we could even realize,” Ariel sighed.

“Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?” Anita wondered.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor frowned. “Maybe, you’re visors making a difference,” he muttered. “Good idea, Ariel,” he nodded with a small smirk and Ariel beamed up at him.

“It's making a difference alright,” Anita sighed. “No one's ever going to see my face again.”

Ariel’s smile fell. “I’m so sorry, I-.”

“It’s alright,” Anita insisted. “You saved my life, I just wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

The Doctor stared at her with sad eyes. “Can we get you anything?” He asked. 

“An old age would be nice,” Anita chuckled.

Ariel smiled softly. “Is there anything we can do?”

“Anything you can do?” Anita echoed.

“We’re all over it,” the Doctor nodded.

“Doctor. When we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far. I could do with a word like that,” Anita shrugged. “What did she say?” She wondered. At the Doctor’s hesitation, Anita simply chuckled. “Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me,” she promised.

The Doctor’s eyes widened as it dawned on him. “Safe,” he breathed.

“What?” Anita frowned.

The Doctor walked up to Ariel with wide eyes. “Safe!” He exclaimed.

Ariel frowned momentarily and slowly, she began to understand as well. “Oh, my God!” Ariel exclaimed. “What were we thinking with saved?!” She nearly laughed.

The Doctor nodded. “You don't say saved. Nobody says saved. You say safe. The data fragment!” He cried, running up to Mister Lux. “What did it say?”

“Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors,” Mister Lux nodded.

“Doctor?” River prompted with a small frown. “Ariel?”

“It was staring us right in the face!” Ariel yelled. “Why would they say saved?” She wondered, silently asking their past selves.

The Doctor nodded. “Nobody says saved,” he agreed. “Nutters say saved. You say safe. You see, it didn't mean safe. It meant, it literally meant, saved!”  He exclaimed.

Ariel turned to River. “We need a computer.”

“I’m missing something,” River concluded with a small nod.

“When you are saving people and they are rescued, would you say the people are safe or the people are saved?” Ariel prompted.

“Safe, but,” River shrugged and her eyes widened as she realized. “Computers say saved,” she breathed.

“Exactly,” Ariel grinned, nodding at her. 

“A save like that,” River hummed. “It would take a massive power surge. To save all those people.”

“Which is why we need the computer,” The Doctor nodded. “Library Archive Files. We need to see proof that this happened.”

“Right,” River nodded. “Follow me,” she instructed, waving the couple forward.

River brought them to a computer terminal and the Doctor pulled on his glasses. He started typing on the computer and as he did so, he unconsciously pulled a firm arm around Ariel, keeping her close to his body.

River watched the action with wide eyes.

Once the Doctor uncovered proof of what happened on that day a hundred years ago, he pulled away and showed it to Ariel and River, pointing out the power surge to them.

“See, there it is, right there,” the Doctor said. “A hundred years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out.”

“It tried to teleport four thousand twenty two people?” River frowned.

“It succeeded,” the Doctor nodded. “Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?”

River and Ariel grinned. “It saved them,” they said simultaneously.

The Doctor grabbed a marker from a desk beside the computer terminal and bolted over to a large table. He pushed the books away and drew a large circle.

“I feel like I’m in class again,” Ariel mumbled with a small frown and River snickered.

“The library,” the Doctor said, gesturing to the large circle. “A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history,” he said, drawing a smaller circle inside the big one and coloring it in. “The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved four thousand and twenty two people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive,” he told them, drawing a big arrow pointing at the circle that was the hard drive.

All of a sudden, an alarm began sounding and all the lights in the area flashed bright red.

“What is it?” Mister Lux frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes,” a computer announced.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and the grin slid off his face as he ran up to the computer terminal and started typing furiously.

“No, no, no, no, no!” The Doctor cried, slamming his hand on the computer roughly.

“Maximum erasure in twenty minutes,” the computer said.

“Oh, God,” Ariel breathed, thinking of the four thousand lives still trapped inside that computer.

“What’s maximum erasure?” River frowned.

“In twenty minutes, this planet's going to crack like an egg,” the Doctor said with wide eyes.

“No. No, it's alright,” the Doctor shook his head, assuring the trio. “The Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect Cal,” he nodded.

Just seconds after he said that, the computer terminal screen flicked blank. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He yelled.

“All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience,” the computer said.

Ariel rolled her eyes. As if four thousand lives were nothing more than an inconvenience.

“We need to stop this,” Mister Lux insisted, his voice more frantic than it had been the entire journey. “We've got to save Cal.”

“What is it?” The Doctor asked. “What is Cal?”

“What are you holding back Mister Lux?” Ariel asked.

Mister Lux glanced frantically at the trio. Seeing they were the only ones that could save Cal, he took a shaky breath.

“We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you,” Mister Lux nodded.

“You’ll show us Cal?” Ariel frowned.

Mister Lux simply nodded in response.

“That’s the core of the planet,” the Doctor breathed.

“Well then,” River sighed, pulling out her sonic. “Let’s go,” she smiled.

River pointed her screwdriver at the library logo in the middle of the compass rose in the floor and it opened.

“Gravity platform,” River announced with a smirk.

“Oh, I bet I like you,” the Doctor hummed.

“I could say the same,” Ariel grinned.

“Oh, you do,” River nodded. “The pair of you,” she chuckled.

They stepped onto the gravity platform and it brought them down to the core of the planet.

Straight to the date core.

“Autodestruct in fifteen minutes,” the computer announced the second they landed.

The Doctor immediately bolted toward the computer terminal, getting to work and checking the readings within seconds.

Ariel looked up with wide eyes as she spotted a swirling ball of energy in the shape of a globe.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed as she stared at it. “It’s beautiful.”

“The data core,” the Doctor hummed. “Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it.”

“Okay, less beautiful,” she shrugged and headed over to a computer terminal by his side to check the readings as well. River walked over and watched over her shoulder.

“Yeah, well, they won't be living much longer,” River nodded. “We're running out of time.”

“Even less beautiful,” Ariel sighed. “Thanks for that,” she said sarcastically.

“Help me. Please, help me,” the voice of a little girl begged desperately.

“Oh, my God!” Ariel exclaimed with wide eyes, horrified at the sound of a mere child suffering and in pain.

“What’s that?” Anita asked.

“Was that a child?” River gasped.

Ariel nodded. “It sounded like a little girl,” she muttered, turning back to the computer. “Doctor, can you get inside?” She asked. The computer was shutting her out at every turn.

The Doctor shook his head. “The computer's in sleep mode. I can't wake it up. I'm trying,” he sighed.

“Doctor, these readings,” River frowned, peering over Ariel’s shoulder.

“I know,” the Doctor nodded. “You'd think it was dreaming,” he hummed.

“It is dreaming, of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written,” Mister Lux announced, pulling off his gloves and pulling a lever on the wall.

“Computers don’t dream,” Anita said.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed, walking over to him and gesturing to Anita. “She’s only got one shadow now.”

The Doctor frowned and looked up at Anita to only confirm what Ariel told him. “Oh,” the Doctor hummed. “This is a clever one. It knows what not to do.”

“So, I’m guessing she wasn’t killed by a swarm then?” Ariel prompted.

“Maybe, a few dozen, but if it were a swarm they’d be clambering over each other. They wouldn’t have the sense to keep up conversation. You saw what happened to Proper Dave,” the Doctor nodded.

“Tinting her visor saved her some time, just not enough,” Ariel nodded.

“It was a good idea though,” the Doctor nodded, sensing she was about to fill herself with regret. “You saved her some valuable time. You might’ve even saved her life if the Vashta Nerada hadn’t been you to it,” he said, wrapping an arm around her and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“Help me,” the little girl begged. “Please help me.”

“Computers don’t dream,” Mister Lux sighed. “But little girls do,” he nodded them into the room he had just opened.

The Doctor tightened his grip around Ariel and they all shot him wary looks, but walked into the room nevertheless.

A Node turned to face them with the face of the little girl they had seen in the computer. “Please help me,” she pleaded. “Please help me.”

“Oh, my God,” River gasped.

“It's the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer,” Ariel remembered with a nod.

“Except she's not in the computer,” Mister Lux shook his head. “In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is Cal,” he introduced.

“Cal is a child? A child hooked up to a mainframe?” The Doctor frowned, his tone growing dangerous.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed, trying to put a calming hand on his arm but he just shrugged away from it.

“Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!” The Doctor snapped.

Ariel looked at Mister Lux with wide eyes as she saw him start to shaky, his breathing becoming rapid. He said he was protecting his family by having them sign those contracts. He was genuinely protecting his family.

“Doctor!” Ariel snapped. “Think before you act and look at him!” She yelled.

The Doctor turned to Mister Lux with a small frown and saw the man looking down at the ground forlornly

Ariel had misjudged Mister Lux completely. He wasn’t a rich, arrogant arse. He was kind and fiercely loyal to his family. She felt her stomach twist as she regretted all the nasty things she had said or thought about him.

“I’m so sorry,” Ariel apologized. “I misjudged you completely.”

“When did you know?” Mister Lux asked.

“You were protecting your family with those contracts?” Ariel prompted.

Mister Lux scoffed and nodded, a small smirk, playing at his lips as he walked up to Cal with a sigh.

“Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show,” Mister Lux sighed.

“So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her,” the Doctor nodded, beginning to understand.

“This is only half a life, of course,” Mister Lux shrugged. “But it's forever.”

“She was happy here,” Ariel nodded. “At peace.”

“And then the shadows came,” the Doctor sighed.

“The shadows. I have to. I have to save. Have to save,” Cal stammered.

“And she saved them,” the Doctor nodded with a soft smile. “She saved everyone in the library. Folded them into her dreams and kept them safe.”

“Then why didn’t she tell us?” Anita asked.

“Because she's forgotten,” the Doctor shrugged. “She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being, well,  _ me _ ,” the Doctor sighed.

Ariel grinned and took his hand in hers, squeezing it three times. The Doctor smiled softly and squeezed back.

“So what do we do?” River wondered.

The Doctor took a deep breath and stared at the little girl with wide eyes.

“Autodestruct in ten minutes,” the computer announced.

The Doctor dropped Ariel’s hand and darted back into the data core room, running to the wall and grappling at the wires. “Easy!” He exclaimed. “We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space.”

“Difficult!” River snapped. “It’ll kill you stone dead.”

“Yeah, it’s easy to criticise,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Doctor! Don’t do this! Let me!” Ariel insisted. “I can give her my memory space,” she said.

“Oh, don’t you start!” River exclaimed. “If it’ll kill him, what do you think it’ll do to you?!”

“Well, he can’t die, I get that,” Ariel nodded. “But compared to him I’m nothing. I can die and the universe would still be alright,” she shrugged.

“Oh, don’t you dare say that about yourself!” The Doctor snapped. “I’m doing this, there’s no question.”

“It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate!” River cried.

“Doctor, you can’t just die on me!” Ariel yelled. “You can’t do this!”

“I’ll try my hardest not to die,” the Doctor nodded. “Honestly, it’s my main thing,” he shrugged.

“Doctor, let me do this!” Ariel snapped.

“Both of you need to stop being so bloody reckless!” River yelled.

“I'm right, this works. Shut up!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Now listen. You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library,” he nodded to River. “Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing as you're here, shut up.”

“Oh! I hate you sometimes!” River snapped.

“I know!” The Doctor yelled.

“If you think for one second I am leaving you, you’ve got another thing coming, Doctor,” Ariel muttered.

The Doctor grinned at her. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to get rid of you for a second,” he hummed.

“Mister Lux, with me,” River instructed. “Anita, if either of them die, I’ll kill them!” River yelled.

Ariel watched the Doctor with sad eyes. “You’re really gonna do this, aren’t you?”

The Doctor turned to her with a sigh. “I have to,” he nodded. “You’ve got all that life left. I can’t let you die and miss out on all of it. Plus, I doubt I’d survive without you,” he said, trying for a playful smirk.

“Doctor, please don’t do this,” Ariel begged. “If you wouldn’t survive without me, how on Earth do you think I’m gonna live?”

“Oh, you’ll make it through,” the Doctor sighed. “One day you’ll forget about this daft old face.”

Ariel smiled sadly up at him. “Never,” she promised.

The Doctor froze for a second and grinned down at her at that one word that made him want to stop what he was doing. He looked into her eyes and he wished more than anything that they could just run off together and not face the responsibilities the universe had slung on them. He wanted to just get in the Tardis and fly away with her. To forget it all, but the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he couldn’t, no matter how desperately he wanted to.

“What about the Vashta Nerada?” Anita asked.

“These are their forests,” the Doctor sighed, jumping away from Ariel and running through the wires once again. “I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content.”

“So you think they’re just going to let us go?” Anita prompted.

“They should,” Ariel shrugged.

“Best offer they’re going to get,” the Doctor nodded.

“You’re going to make ‘em an offer?” Anita asked.

“They'd better take it, because right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all,” the Doctor snapped. “You know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in. And you ate her.” He lifted up his sonic to reveal what Ariel and the Doctor had already known. Anita was dead.

He cleared her visor to reveal the skull inside.

“But I'm going to let that pass, just as long as you let them pass,” the Doctor said.

“How long have you known?” Anita asked.

“Actually, it was Ariel who worked it out,” the Doctor nodded. “Brilliant as she is,” he said, smiling down at her. “She counted the shadows. You only have one now.”

The Doctor walked up to Anita and glanced down at the flickering green light. “She’s nearly gone,” the Doctor sighed. “Be kind,” he requested.

“Just this once, let a dying girl be free,” Ariel said.

“These are our forests. We are not kind,” she snapped.

“I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them,” the Doctor insisted. “You are letting them go.”

“These are our forests. They are our meat.”

Shadows began to stretch out from the Vashta Nerada Anita just as they had done with the Zombie Dave.

Ariel jumped back and tapped the Doctor’s arm wildly. “Er, Doctor?” She prompted.

The Doctor took a deep breath and spun around, glaring at the Vashta Nerada. “Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand!” The Doctor snapped. “I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up.”

The shadows froze as the Vashta Nerada did what he told them and Ariel watched with bated breath.

The shadows then retracted and Ariel looked up at the Doctor in awe. She would never get over how fantastic he was, and he was about to die for them.

“You have one day,” the Vashta Nerada told them.

The spacesuit collapsed and River darted inside, clutching the skeleton of her dead friend.

“Oh, Anita,” River sighed.

“I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now,” the Doctor muttered. “I told you to go!”  He exclaimed.

“Lux can manage without me, but you two can’t,” River said. She stood up and knocked the Doctor out. She barely gave Ariel two seconds to process what was happening before she did the same to her.

~~~

The Doctor and Ariel woke up eight minutes later to the sound of the computer announcing the impending autodestruct.

“Blimey, my head,” Ariel moaned. When she tried to rub her head, she pulled against a pair of handcuffs keeping her chained to a pipe. “What the hell?” She breathed and looked up to see River attaching herself to the system, doing exactly what she and the Doctor had been willing to do.

She pulled roughly against the handcuffs again, eyes wide as she tried to get to River and stop her.

“Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job,” the Doctor insisted.

Ariel turned and saw just behind her, the Doctor had handcuffs of his own chaining him to a pipe.

“Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?” River chuckled.

“River, please don’t do this,” Ariel begged. “Let me,” she nodded. “Let me take his place.”

“Oh, not a chance,” River sighed.

“Why am we handcuffed?” The Doctor frowned. “Why do you even have handcuffs?”

“Spoilers,” River smirked at the pair of them.

“River, come on. Please don’t. This will kill you,” Ariel said with sad eyes.

“This is not a joke,” the Doctor nodded. “Stop this now. This is going to kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any.”

“You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I!” River snapped. “I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download.”

“River, please. Let me do it. You can still have all those times with the Doctor if I die. The universe will still be safe because he’ll still be alive, and I’ll have died saving four thousand and twenty two people. I mean,” Ariel chuckled. “What better way to die is there?”

“No,” River shook her head firmly. “If you die, that means all of our times together will be erased and you were irreplaceable. You need to live,” she insisted. “In fact, you  _ deserve _ to live. You are so much more than what you think.”

“River, please,” the Doctor breathed. “No.”

“Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. Both of you. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang, and you cried,” River sniffled, silent tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. 

“Autodestruct in one minute,” the computer announced.

“You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue,” River smiled sadly.

The Doctor and Ariel both tried to reach the two screwdrivers laid on top of her diary and River just sniffled.

“There’s nothing you can do,” River sighed.

“You can let one of us do this,” Ariel insisted.

“If either of you die here, it’ll mean I never met one of you,” River said.

“Time can be rewritten,” the Doctor nodded.

“Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare,” River snapped. She smiled sadly when she saw silent tears streaming down Ariel’s face. “It's okay. It's okay,” she assured the women. “It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come.The three of us, time and space. You watch us run.”

“River, you know my name,” the Doctor muttered.

“Autodestruct in fifteen, fourteen.”

“You whispered my name in my ear,” the Doctor said.

“Thirteen, twelve.”

“There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could,” the Doctor mumbled, beginning to grow teary eyed.

“Eleven, ten.”

“River, you knew what I did when I was eleven,” Ariel nodded. “I swore never to tell anybody that, unless-.”

“Nine, eight, seven.”

“Hush, now,” River sighed, smiling at the two people she loved most in the universe.

“Six, five, four.”

“Spoilers,” River grinned.

“Three, two, one.”

River joined the two cables together to connect her mind to the computer. There was a blinding light making Ariel and the Doctor wince and cover their eyes.

When they looked back up, River was dead.

~~~

The Doctor leaned on a column watching Ariel help people with the teleport and Donna try to look up the man she married within the computer.

With a sigh, Donna returned to the Doctor and he kept his eyes fixated on Ariel. She had insisted that she help the survivors to throw herself into work she could do and people she could help rather than remembering how helpless she was when River died.

“Any luck?” The Doctor asked.

“There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the library that day,” Donna sighed. “I suppose he could have had a different name out here, but, let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?”

“Maybe not,” the Doctor shrugged.

“I made up the perfect man,” Donna breathed. “Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?” She wondered.

“Everything,” the Doctor mumbled and his eyes widened as he realized what he said. “Sorry, did I say everything? I meant to say nothing. I was aiming for nothing. I accidentally said everything,” he rambled.

“Blimey, you really do need Ariel to filter you,” Donna chuckled. She looked up at him and saw his eyes fixated on the young brunette. “What about you? Are you alright?”

“I’m always alright,” the Doctor shrugged, his face betraying the very real fact that he was about as far from alright as anyone could get.

“Is alright special Time Lord code for really not alright at all?” Donna wondered.

“Why?” The Doctor asked.

“Because Ariel seems pretty alright,” Donna said, nodding to the brunette. “And I’m alright too.”

The Doctor smiled sadly at the redhead. “Come on,” he nodded. “Ariel?” He prompted.

Ariel said her goodbyes to the people working on the teleport and darted up to the Doctor. He wrapped an arm around her and she sighed softly at the comfort his arms presented as they walked out.

They got up to the balcony and the Doctor pulled out River’s diary and her sonic screwdriver. He put them on the balcony rail and place his hand on them tentatively.

“Your friend, Professor Song. She knew you in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me,” Donna said with wide eyes.

“Donna, this is her diary,” the Doctor sighed. “My future. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?” He asked.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed. She knew it wasn’t worth it. Like her future self had said. She didn’t want to spoil all the good that awaited her.

Donna turned to her and smiled softly. “Spoilers,” she nodded. “Right?”

The Doctor grinned. “Right,” he nodded.

The Doctor took his hand off the diary and screwdriver with a sigh and turned to the steps. “Come on,” he nodded. “The next chapter’s this way.”

They walked back up the steps slowly, and before they could get to the second flight, the Doctor froze, his eyes widening as he thought.

“What’s going on?” Donna frowned.

“He’s thinking,” Ariel breathed.

The Doctor darted back down the steps and snatched the sonic screwdriver from off the diary.

“And now he’s realizing something!” Ariel exclaimed as the two women ran back down the steps after him.

“Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that?” The Doctor wondered. 

“To protect her, I suppose,” Ariel shrugged. “To make sure she can be alright on her own on her final day?” She guessed.

“Thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would I do that?” The Doctor asked. He opened the screwdriver and found a neural delay with three green blinking lights. “Oh! Oh!” The Doctor exclaimed and Ariel beamed at him with wide eyes. “Oh, look at that. I'm very good!”

“What have you done?” Donna asked.

“Saved her,” the Doctor smiled. He hesitated for a moment before running, unsure if he should ask Ariel to join him. 

“Oh, just go!” Ariel exclaimed with a giggle.

The Doctor grinned and kissed her quickly before running to save River Song.

“Come on, Donna,” Ariel smiled, grabbing her best friend’s hand. “Let’s go home.”


	28. The Vacation Gone Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You would not believe how hard it was for me to find a stopping point in this episode. I eventually just had to make one for my own because if you look at the transcript you can see that through most of the thing their dialogue is just clumped together. It's incredibly frustrating to try and write through.

“Come on, Donna!” Ariel exclaimed with a laugh. “It’ll be fun!”

“I said, no,” Donna insisted.

The Doctor and Ariel were standing by a public telephone trying to convince Donna to leave the spa for a bit and go on a trip across the planet Midnight.

They had been travelling nonstop for a month after the Library. But, of course, they had run into trouble every time.

They visited Shadow Cay on 2009 Earth, which was really a disguised Sycorax spaceship and discovered the Sycorax had been animating zombies or human abstracts.

The Doctor managed to prevent the Mandragora Helix from spreading influence through the internet, and then sent it out into space, confused and with memories missing.

On a visit to the Myolthen galaxy, they lost the TARDIS when it was swept away by a waterfall. Caught up in the raging waterfall themselves, they were saved by Jeb, a fisherman from Zentos 3. He, along with a group of intelligent bears, helped them to relocate the TARDIS.

When the Doctor took the women to the ancient Acropolis of Xentha in Galaxy 12, they encountered the Titanoleum Army and foiled their plot to convert holidaymakers into Teglatrons.

Eventually, the Doctor decided to take them to a leisure planet called Midnight. He had insisted no wrong could occur there to Ariel and Donna’s amusement. However, as he guided them through the planet, Donna became infatuated with the Leisure Palace. Ariel had stayed with her for a while as well, but soon the Doctor drew her attention with the promise of a tour to a sapphire waterfall. Ever since then, they had been trying to convince Donna to join them. 

The bus was leaving soon and she was still adamant about remaining in the Leisure Palace.

“Sapphire waterfall,” the Doctor said. “It's a waterfall made of sapphires. This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine,” the Doctor explained with a wild grin. He was more than just a bit excited about seeing it.

“You go on your little date with Ariel. I’m fine here,” Donna insisted.

“Oh, come on, Donna,” Ariel sighed. “You know it’ll be even more fun if you’re there.”

“Oh, I’m sure the pair of you you will have plenty of fun on your own,” Donna chuckled.

“Four hours, that's all it takes,” the Doctor insisted with a sigh.

“No, that's four hours there and four hours back. That's like a school trip. I’d rather go sunbathing,” Donna shrugged.

“You be careful,” the Doctor warned. “That’s Xtonic sunlight.”

“Oh, I'm safe,” Donna sighed. “It says in the brochure this glass is fifteen feet thick.”

“Alright, I give up,” the Doctor sighed. “We'll be back for dinner. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs,” he smiled.

“It’s a date,” Donna nodded.

“See you later,” the Doctor said.

“Bye, Donna!” Ariel called.

“And both of you be careful, alright?” Donna said.

“Nah,” the Doctor smirked.

“When are we ever careful?” Ariel wondered.

“Which is exactly what I’m concerned about,” Donna mumbled.

“Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?” The Doctor wondered. He hung the phone up and turned to Ariel.

“Oh, did you have to say that? That’s like ‘how could this get any worse’, or ‘I’m sure we’ll be fine’,” Ariel moaned.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” the Doctor nodded.

“Shut up!” Ariel exclaimed with a giggle, lightly hitting him on the chest as they walked onto the Crusader bus.

“How could this get any worse than the Titanoleum Army?” The Doctor asked with a playful smirk on his lips.

“I hate you,” Ariel groaned, grinning up at him.

“No, you don’t,” the Doctor smiled.

They headed on board the shuttle and took their seats beside each other. Ariel insisted on the window seat despite knowing she wouldn’t be able to see anything until they got there.

The brochure had been extremely descriptive on what was allowed and what wasn’t allowed.

As they sat down, the hostess was rambling off complimentary items she was giving a blond woman seated across the aisle from them.

“Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts,” she finished just as the couple looked over.

“Just the headphones, please,” the blonde woman requested.

“There you go,” the hostess said, handing her a pair of headphones.

The hostess walked over to the couple and flashed a kind smile before turning to her cart and dumping stuff on them.

“That's the headphones for channels one to thirty six. Modem link for 3D vidgames. Complimentary earplugs. Complimentary slippers. Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts,” she listed. “I must warn you some products may contain nuts,” she said.

“Oh, I wonder what that’ll be,” Ariel said sarcastically.

“That’ll be the peanuts,” the Doctor chuckled.

The hostess turned to Ariel and smiled politely. Ariel could see she was about to dump all that stuff on her and her eyes widened.

“Er, if it’s alright by you I’ll just have the peanuts, juice pack and the headphones,” Ariel requested.

The woman nodded and handed Ariel the three items. 

“Enjoy your trip,” the hostess smiled.

“Oh, I can’t wait,” the Doctor nodded, beaming at her. “Allons-y!”

“I’m sorry?” The hostess frowned.

The Doctor’s face fell and he glanced back at Ariel. She just giggled and nodded him on. 

“Oh, that’s French,” the Doctor said. “For let’s go.”

“Fascinating,” the hostess hummed, seeming completely uninterested as she moved her cart.

“Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bet this morning,” Ariel mumbled.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning using those headphones,” the Doctor moaned. “I thought this trip would be fun,” he pouted.

“You’re such a little kid,” Ariel giggled, shaking her head. “It’s four hours, Doctor. I see you all day every day. I’m sure you can handle me plugging in the headphones for an hour or so and taking a nap.”

“It’s not like I wanted to,” the Doctor muttered.

Ariel sighed. “Well, if you’re gonna look at me like that then I’ll put them away,” she insisted, smiling softly at the Doctor.

“No, no,” the Doctor said. “If you wanna take a nap, far be it from me to stop you.”

Ariel just chuckled and shook her head. “No, I couldn’t leave you all alone here for an hour. I’ll take a nap when we get back home.”

The Doctor nodded and grinned at her, making her giggle.

“You are such an idiot,” Ariel smiled, kissing him quickly.

Just behind them, an older man and his young petite Indian assistant took their seats.

“Headphones for channels one to thirty six,” the hostess began, holding out the headphones the second the pair sat down.

“Oh no, thank you,” the man shook his head. “Not for us.”

“Earplugs, please,” the young assistant requested. 

“There you go,” the hostess said, handing them each a pair of earplugs.

The Doctor beamed at Ariel and nodded his head to the pair behind them, silently asking if they should make new friends right off the bat.

Ariel chuckled and nodded. “Go on, then,” she smiled.

“They call it the Sapphire Waterfall, but it's no such thing. Sapphire's an aluminium oxide, but the glacier is just compound silica with iron pigmentation,” the man behind them said excitedly.

“Oh, and he sounds like he’d like you,” Ariel remarked.

The Doctor grinned and sat up to face the people behind them, Ariel did the same shortly after.

“Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes,” the man introduced, holding out a hand to each of them.

“I’m the Doctor and this is Ariel,” the Doctor introduced happily. “Hello,” he waved.

“Hi,” Ariel smiled.

“It’s my fourteenth time,” Professor Hobbes grinned.

“Oh,” the Doctor said with wide eyes. “It’s our first.”

“He pulled me out of the Leisure Palace just so we could go together,” Ariel laughed and Professor Hobbes chuckled.

The young Indian woman by his side stood up and shook their hands. “And I’m Dee Dee,” she smiled. “Dee Dee Blasco.”

“Don’t bother them!” Professor Hobbes snapped and Ariel’s eyes widened. “Where’s my water bottle?”

“Alright then,” Ariel sighed and reclined back into her seat.

“Oh, never mind it,” the Doctor said, still grinning with excitement as their journey to come. He pushed the arm chairs up and moved to sit right beside Ariel, wrapping an arm around her. “Now, did I ever tell you about the time I saved Winston Churchill from RATS?” The Doctor asked and Ariel gazed up at him with wide eyes filled with wonder as she shook her head.

That's what she loved about the Doctor. He always managed to tell her things that filled her with such wonder and joy. He entertained her and astounded her all at once.

Eventually, the hostess walked up to the front of their bus and put an end to the Doctor’s story.

“Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader Fifty,” she smiled proudly. “If you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment. Doors,” she said and all the doors closed. The Doctor looked as excited as a little kid. Ariel just giggled. Every second with his was joyous. “Shields down,” the hostess said and the shields around the windows went down. “I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace. Also, a reminder. Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it, you first. Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe.”

A screen to the hostess’s left side flicked on and demonstrated a map with the bus as the center of it in orange. 

The Doctor pulled on his brown glasses to look at it and Ariel narrowed her eyes at it. “I think I’m growing blind,” she joked. 

The Doctor chuckled and handed her the glasses. She put them on and watched the map for a moment before nodding and handing them back to the Doctor.

The couple shared a lot considering they had been dating for around three months.

“Driver Joe at the wheel,” Joe announced. “There's been a diamondfall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map. The journey covers five hundred kliks to the Multifaceted Coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll.”

The shuttle shook a bit as the hostess turned the screen off.

“Blimey, turbulence on a bus,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor laughed.

“For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth classics,” the hostess announced and in front of each row of seats, a small screen went down and a pop video of a woman singing turned on.

“Who is that?” Ariel whispered.

“In your future,” the Doctor shrugged. “Though I wouldn’t exactly call her a classic,” the Doctor winced.

“Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klein,” the hostess added, pressing a button and allowing a holographic painting to shine into their eyes.

“Oh, well, if I wasn’t blind before,” Ariel mumbled.

The Doctor chuckled and nodded, beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed by the concurrent entertainment.

“Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat. The Animation Archives,” the hostess smiled.

She pressed a button and some black and white Betty Boop cartoons projected onto the wall she was standing in front of.

“Where are there youngsters on board?” Ariel wondered, peering behind her seat to see anybody around the age to actually watch cartoons all the time.

“Four hours of fun time. Enjoy,” the hostess smiled before walking to the back of the bus.

“This is more like four hours of headaches,” Ariel frowned and the Doctor nodded.

“Let’s see if there’s not something we can do about that,” the Doctor hummed and Ariel grinned as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

The blonde woman across the aisle smiled softly as she watched the Doctor shut down all the entertainment simultaneously.

“Well, that’s a mercy,” Professor Hobbes sighed.

The hostess tried desperately to turn the entertainment systems back on, and when she failed, she took a deep breath and marched up to the front of the bus again. “I do apologise, ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We seem to had a failure of the Entertainment System,” the hostess muttered, clearly irritated whereas Ariel felt a swell of relief and beamed at the Doctor.

“Oh,” the Doctor smiled.

“But what do we do?” A woman a couple seats behind them wondered.

“We've got four hours of this? Four hours of just sitting here?” The man by her side frowned.

Ariel rolled her eyes. The grown adults were starting to sound like her when she was a kid and got grounded.

“Tell you what,” the Doctor smirked, taking a deep breath and sitting up to see the rest of the shuttle. “We'll have to talk to each other instead,” he grinned while the rest of the cabin looked extremely annoyed at the very concept. He smiled down at Ariel and she just laughed.

~~~

Ninety-eight kliks later, the idea had caught on throughout the shuttle and while the Doctor listened to a story from Biff and Val Cane, the couple who complained at the lack of entertainment, Ariel sat by their son Jethro. It was easier to talk to someone who was more her age rather than listen to a story from a couple who looked like her parents.

“He tells this story at every party,” Jethro moaned. “I’ve heard it at least a dozen times in the past year.”

“Oh, my, God, my Mum used to do that with her new boyfriends, like, not even kidding, she once told this woman while we were buying food that she was using her boyfriend’s money,” Ariel sighed. “It drove me mad.”

Jethro chuckled. “My parents are like that picture perfect family that you hate even hearing about. I didn’t even want to be around them on this trip and they started bloody screaming my name to come sit with them.”

“My Mum used to do that too!” Ariel exclaimed with a laugh. “I used to sit with my mates and she’d be like  _ ‘Ariel, Ariel! Come sit with your dear old mum!’ _ Sometimes, I just wanted to scream at her in front of everyone.”

“Oh, I know that feeling too well,” Jethro mumbled.

“And I said, where's the pool? And he said,” Biff laughed, continuing his story and Jethro slid back in his seat with a loud groan.

“The pool is abstract,” Biff and Val said in unison and Jethro mouthed it with a roll of his eyes.

Jethro looked up at Ariel and narrowed his eyes. “Are you and him? The Doctor? Are you and him together?”

“Yeah,” Ariel sighed. “But I dunno, I have to tell him something soon that he’s not gonna love hearing.”

“Why do you have to tell him soon?” Jethro wondered with a frown.

“I can feel it. It’s like when you know you’re gonna get in trouble for something but there’s nothing you can do,” Ariel sighed. “It’s just this feeling in my gut.”

“What have you gotta tell him?” Jethro asked. “Did you cheat on him with another bloke?” He guessed with a grin. “Or was it with a woman?” He asked, even more interested.

Ariel laughed. “No!” She exclaimed. “Nothing like that,” she shook her head. “It’s just,” she sighed. “I lied to him. A couple times and this oracle told me I have to tell him the truth.”

“Oh, I was just beginning to like you,” Jethro moaned. “Now, you’re telling me you believe in that bullshit?”

“I didn’t at first,” Ariel insisted with a nod. “Then, I found out the oracles were possessed by the Pyrovile and gained the actual ability to see in the future,” she said casually and Jethro’s face fell.

“You and the Doctor,” Jethro frowned. “You’re not from around this planet are you?”

“Not even close,” Ariel shook her head.

~~~

One hundred and fifty kliks later, the Doctor continued to make his rounds, getting to know everyone while Ariel continued to talk to Jethro. She was growing to like the man that she discovered was the same age as her. Jethro was a human, like her and was on holiday on the planet Midnight. His parents had insisted on the trip to the Sapphire Waterfall and seeing as he had never been on the planet before and didn’t know much about it, he didn’t trust himself alone on it.

Ariel headed back to the galley to get herself some tea and while she was there, the Doctor stood with Dee Dee, talking about how she got to be Professor Hobbes’s assistant while drinking out of a thermos jug.

Ariel walked up to the Doctor and gave him a quick kiss. Normally, she would cling to the Doctor’s side constantly and be wary of letting go, but seeing as they were just on a bus talking to people she didn’t have the normal anxiety she had when leaving him.

It felt like whenever they were on the Tardis and she would be unsure of where the Doctor was, but be okay talking to Donna. Although, she would admit it was rare that she went an hour without at least talking to him unless she was sleeping.

She frowned. She should really work on that. She loved having the Doctor by her side, but it felt like ever since they started dating they had become two halves of a person. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

“Anyway, like I was saying,” Ariel sighed as she took a seat beside Jethro. “I thought I was doing pretty good in the class and the teacher stands up in front of everyone and says, ‘well, some of you are clearly striving to do better than your last exams but others, like you Ariel, are still giving me that poor quality’.”

“He didn’t!” Jethro exclaimed with wide eyes.

“I know!” Ariel laughed. “And I thought I was quite good at maths,” she shrugged.

“Y’know, it’s always the things you think you’re doing great at that you wind up failing,” Jethro sighed.

“If only I had known that three years ago,” Ariel smiled.

Jethro narrowed his eyes at the Doctor who was holding up his cup and smiling at Dee Dee.

“Do you trust him? That Doctor?” Jethro asked.

“With my life,” Ariel said, without hesitation. “Why?”

“I dunno,” Jethro shrugged. “He seems odd.”

“I’m odd,” Ariel smirked. “What makes me different from him?” She wondered. 

“You’re another kind of different,” Jethro nodded, watching her with fascinated eyes.

“I didn’t know there were levels to that thing,” Ariel chuckled as she sipped her tea. 

~~~

Two hundred and nine kliks later, Ariel left Jethro’s side and walked up to the Doctor as he was talking to the blonde woman called Sky.

“No, no, I'm with-,” the Doctor shook his head and grinned when he spotted Ariel. “Her actually,” he smiled. “Hello.”

“Hi,” Ariel beamed at him. “Have I interrupted something?”

“Oh, no, I was just talking to Sky here. She asked if I was alone,” the Doctor said.

“No, we’re travelling with Donna, too,”  Ariel nodded.

“Right,” the Doctor said, nodding along with her. “But she didn’t come along,” he sighed.

“She wanted to stay in the Leisure Palace,” Ariel shrugged.

“Sunbathing,” the Doctor frowned. “She never struck me as the type to miss out just to stay sunbathing.”

Ariel sighed. “I suppose she wanted a break after the nonstop and seeing as that break came in the form of sunbathing,” she shrugged.

“Right,” the Doctor hummed. “I should really drop the pair of you back home.”

“Oi, not me,” Ariel frowned. “I’m having a hell of a time,” she smirked.

Sky just frowned at the couple. “Do you ever not talk like two halves of the same person?”

“No,” the couple said together, grinning childishly at her.

“Well, what about you?” The Doctor asked. “You travelling with anybody?”

“No, it’s just me,” Sky sighed.

“I've done plenty of that. Travelling on my own. I love it. Do what you want, go anywhere. Though after a while it can begin to grow old,” the Doctor nodded. “You start to miss someone by your side.”

“I'm still getting used to it,” Sky shrugged. “I've found myself single rather recently, not by choice.”

“What happened?” The Doctor frowned.

“Yeah, why did it end?” Ariel asked.

“Oh, the usual,” Sky sighed. “She needed her own space, as they say. A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that's enough space, don't you?” She prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, blimey,” Ariel muttered. 

“Yeah,” the Doctor nodded. “The last person I was with, she sort of went to a different universe.”

Sky raised her eyebrows but nodded with a soft sigh. She understood the pain of someone travelling so far just to be away. 

Ariel placed her chin on the top of the Doctor’s head, grinning down at him as he chuckled.

Sky frowned at them. However, it seemed the Doctor had moved on past the woman who disappeared. It had taken him ages and years of travelling alone and with Martha Jones before he was finally willing to accept someone new to repair the damage Rose Tyler being ripped from him had caused.

Sky took a deep breath and frowned down at the food in her lap that the bus had provided. “Oh, what’s this?” She sighed. “Chicken or beef?”

“I think it’s both,” the Doctor said, narrowing his eyes at the piece of meat as he inspected it on his fork. 

Ariel leant forward and ate the small piece of meat whole. Sky and the Doctor stared up at her with wide eyes and she just shrugged. 

“It’s not bad,” Ariel said. “A bit dry, but if I’m honest I’ve had worse. Try and taste my Mum’s cooking when she wants to throw a party but realizes she has to mother. It’s enough to call poison control,” she nodded.

“Oh, that’s a bit dramatic,” the Doctor sighed as he ate the food on his tray.

“You wanna try her food and tell me that again?” Ariel prompted with a raised eyebrow.

The Doctor nodded. “Fair point.”

Ariel smiled and walked around to his side. “Now, can you scoot over or give me some of your food? I’m famished,” she sighed.

The Doctor nodded and scooted over so she had room on his seat. He got some of the strange meat on his fork and fed it to her as she giggled and leant her head on his shoulder.

She loved the man by her side more than she could even process. It was hard to form a way to express the way she felt about the Doctor which made her more terrified than anything about how he might react to her secrets.

She knew she continued traveling with him in the future thanks to River, but she wasn’t looking forward to his immediate reaction to the news.

It would break both his hearts and hers.

~~~

Two hundred and fifty one kliks later, everyone on the bus was watching Professor Hobbes project an illustration of his research on Midnight. Everyone was interested in what he had to show them.

Ariel watched sitting by Jethro’s side with the Doctor’s glasses on while the Doctor sat at the very front to see.

“So, this is Midnight, do you see, bombarded by the sun. Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. Dee Dee, next slide,” Professor Hobbes instructed and Dee Dee nodded and clicked forward to a new slide. “It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because, you see, the history is fascinating. Because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing,” Professor Hobbes said with wide eyes.

“But how do you know?” Jethro wondered. “I mean, if no one can go outside,” he shrugged.

“Oh, his imagination,” Val sighed. “Here we go,” she mumbled.

“No, seriously,” Ariel snapped, frowning at the woman. “That makes sense.”

“He’s got a point,” the Doctor nodded and Val looked like the Doctor and Ariel had just taken the mickey out of her.

“Exactly,” Professor Hobbes smiled as though they were just bringing more proof to his research. “We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it.”

Just then, there was a loud crunch and grind making the Professor’s words seem far more ominous than they were intended.

“We’ve stopped,” Val frowned. “Have we stopped?”

“Are we there?” Biff asked.

“We can’t be,” Dee Dee shook her head. “It’s too soon.”

Ariel inhaled sharply and walked up to the front where the Doctor was seated. She leant forward and placed his glasses on him. 

“They don't stop,” Professor Hobbes frowned. “Crusader vehicles never stop.”

“Looks like we won’t get to have a nice lit trip to the waterfalls,” Ariel sighed.

“Looks like it, yeah,” the Doctor nodded.

“If you could just return to your seats,” the hostess requested. “It's just a small delay,” she assured them.

The hostess walked to the back to use the intercom phone and ask the driver what was going on.

“Maybe just a pit stop,” Biff shrugged.

“There's no pit to stop in,” Professor Hobbes shook his head. “I've been on this expedition fourteen times. They never stop.”

“Well, evidently we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it,” Sky snapped.

“We’ve broken down,” Jethro laughed and within moments Ariel found herself giggling and nodding to him. His laughter was contagious to her.

“Thanks, Jethro,” Val muttered bitterly.

“In the middle of nowhere,” Jethro laughed with wide eyes acting terrified.

Ariel walked back to his side, giggling as she did so. “It’s like a horror film where they start picking us off one by one,” she muttered to him. She loved joining in and joking with him, but she didn’t want to scare everyone else like he was doing. She just wanted to have a quick laugh.

“Oh, yeah,” Jethro chuckled.

“Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon,” the hostess sighed, walking back through the shuttle. Ariel ran back to her seat beside the Doctor as she did so. “We're just experiencing a short delay. The driver needs to stabilise the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats,” she requested.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Ariel and smirked at her. A silent message. It was time for them to figure out what was going for themselves.

Ariel grinned and nodded. She was ready. 

The Doctor grabbed her hand and they stood up and walked to the driver’s door. 

“No, I’m sorry, sir, ma’am,” the hostess said, trying to stand in their way.

The Doctor sighed and held up his psychic paper. “There you go. Engine experts. Two licks,” he insisted as he opened the door.

“I'm sorry, sir, ma’am,” the hostess sighed. “If you could just sit down. You're not supposed to be in there.”

Ariel closed the door and waved, grinning at the hostess as the door shut on her.

“Sorry, if you two could return to your seats,” the man who sounded a lot like Driver Joe said.

“Company insurance,” the Doctor said, flashing the psychic paper. “Let's see if we can get an early assessment. So, what's the problem, Driver Joe?” He asked.

“Yeah, why have we stopped so suddenly?” Ariel wondered.

“We're stabilising the engine feeds. Won't take long,” Joe shrugged.

“Er, no, because that's the engine feed, that line there, and it's fine. And it's a micropetrol engine, so stabilising doesn't really make sense, does it?” The Doctor prompted.

“He does this a lot,” Ariel nodded at the two men’s wide eyes.

“Sorry,” the Doctor grinned sheepishly. “I'm the Doctor, I'm very clever. So, what's wrong?”

“And no need to lie again, we’re not gonna run out screaming it to that lot,” Ariel promised.

“We just stopped,” the man to Joe’s side sighed. “Look, all systems fine, everything's working, but we're not moving.”

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned the systems. Ariel raised an eyebrow at him and he checked the readings before nodding to her, making her frown.

“Yeah, you're right,” the Doctor mumbled. “No faults. And who are you?” He asked the other man.

“Claude,” the man nodded. “I’m the mechanic. Trainee.”

“Hell of a day to be a trainee,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor nodded firmly in agreement.

“Still,” the Doctor sighed. “Nice to meet you, Claude.”

“I’m Ariel,” Ariel smiled at the man.

“Nice to meet you,” Claude nodded.

“I've sent a distress signal,” Joe said. “They should dispatch a rescue truck, top speed.”

“How long until they get here?” The Doctor asked.

“About an hour,” Joe shrugged.

“Blimey, all that time waiting,” Ariel hummed.

“Well, since we're waiting, shall we take a look outside?” The Doctor smirked. “Just lift the screens a bit?” He grinned at Ariel who nodded furiously.

Joe stared at the couple like they were mad.

“It's a hundred percent Xtonic out there,” Joe breathed. “We'd be vaporized.”

“Nah,” the Doctor sighed. “Those windows are Finitoglass. They'd give you a couple of minutes. Go on, live a little,” he smiled.

“Come on, Driver Joe,” Ariel grinned. “Let’s take a peek outside.”

Joe took a deep breath. “Well,” he muttered. He raised the front screen and Ariel and the Doctor shared a grin.

The planet outside looked like pure jewels. It looked like less of a planet and more of a collection of diamonds encompassing them. It was gorgeous.

“Wow,” Joe breathed.

“That’s incredible,” Ariel muttered.

“Oh, that is beautiful,” the Doctor hummed, beaming at the sight.

“Look at all those diamonds,” Claude murmured. “Poisoned by the sun. No-one can ever touch them.”

“Joe, you said we took a detour?” The Doctor prompted.

“Just about forty kliks to the west,” Joe nodded.

“Is this a recognized path?” The Doctor wondered.

“No, it’s a new one,” Joe shook his head. “The computer worked it out on automatic.”

“Nobody has ever been here before,” Ariel breathed, staring up at the diamonds with wide eyes.

“So we're the first,” the Doctor smiled. “This piece of ground. No one's ever been here before. Not in the whole of recorded history.”

Claude’s eyes widened as he watched something just outside their bus start to move. “Did you just?” He frowned and shook his head. There couldn’t have been anything. “No, sorry, it’s nothing,” he sighed.

“No, wait, what was it?” Ariel asked, sharing a frown with the Doctor.

“What did you see?” The Doctor wondered and Claude tried to point it out to the pair of them.

“Just there,” Claude muttered. “That ridge. Like, like a shadow. Just, just for a second.”

“What sort of shadow?” The Doctor asked.

“Like a moving figure?” Ariel prompted.

All of a sudden, there was a loud cautionary beeping from the computer. 

“Xtonic rising,” Joe announced. “Shields down.”

The shields began to lower and Claude’s eyes widened as he saw the shadow once again.

“Look, look!” Claude exclaimed, trying to bring the Doctor and Ariel’s attention to it. “There it is, there it is. Look, there.”

“Where?” The Doctor frowned. “What was it?” He asked as the shields closed and whatever had been moving was invisible to them.

“Like just something shifting,” Claude mumbled. “Something sort of dark, like it was running.”

“Running?” Ariel echoed.

“Running which way?” The Doctor wondered.

Claude looked up at the couple with wide eyes. “Running toward us,” he breathed.

“Right, Doctor, Ariel, back to your seats,” Joe sighed, opening the door for them and practically shoving them out without even standing. “And, er, not a word. Rescue's on its way. If you could close the door. Thank you,” he nodded and just like that, they were back in the shuttle.

Within seconds, Sky walked up to them and started questioning them about what was happening.

“What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it? What's wrong?” Sky asked.

“Oh,” the Doctor said with wide eyes. “Just stabilizing,” he shrugged. “Happens all the time.”

“Nothing to worry about,” Ariel nodded.

“I don't need this,” Sky snapped. “I'm on a schedule. This is completely unnecessary.”

“Back to your seats, thank you,” the hostess said before heading into the cockpit.

The Doctor and Ariel took their seats and Ariel rested her head on his shoulder, sighing as they awaited the rescue truck.

Dee Dee gently tapped the Doctor’s shoulder as she leant around the seat and the couple both sat up and frowned at the woman.

“Excuse me, Doctor, but they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?” Dee Dee prompted.

“Now, don’t bother them again!” Professor Hobbes snapped.

“My father was a mechanic,” Dee Dee insisted. Ariel and the Doctor shared a wary look. “Micropetrol doesn't stabilise. What does stabilise mean?” Dee Dee asked.

“Well,” the Doctor sighed. “Bit of flim-flam. Don’t worry,” he shook his head. “They’re working it out,” he assured her and Dee Dee nodded.

While she was reassured, the rest of the bus had grown less so at the Doctor’s confirmation that they weren’t stabilizing.

“So, it’s not the engines?” Professor Hobbes prompted.

“They’ll sort it out, they told us they were,” Ariel nodded.

“It’s just a little pause, that’s all,” the Doctor shrugged.

“How much air have we got?” Professor Hobbes wondered.

“Professor, it’s fine,” the Doctor assured him.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Ariel nodded.

“What did he say?” Val asked, frowning at the four of them from across the aisle as she listened in. 

“Oh, blimey,” Ariel sighed.

“Nothing,” the Doctor shook his head, trying to end the anxiety where it had started.

“Are we running out of air?!” Val exclaimed.

Ariel fell back in a seat with a roll of her eyes. This had escalated far quicker than anyone would’ve wanted.

The hostess reentered the compartment and even Professor Hobbes seemed to regret what he said.

“I was just speculating,” Professor Hobbes shrugged.

“Is that right, miss? Are we running out of air?” Biff asked desperately.

“Is that what the Captain said?” Val prompted.

Instead of joining into his parent’s hysterical mania, Jethro did the sensible thing and went to the front of the bus to ask the person who had talked to the driver directly what was going on.

Ariel leant forward and whispered it in Jethro’s ear, knowing his parents would grab just a bit of what she said and turn it into the end times.

She told him that they had shut down without a reason and a rescue truck was an hour away. She also hesitated, but decided he could handle the news of something being alive out there.

Jethro pulled away with wide eyes and nodded.

“If you could all just remain calm,” the hostess requested.

“How much air have we got?” Val gasped.

“Mum, just stop it,” Jethro snapped. 

“I assure you, everything is under control,” the hostess nodded.

“Well, doesn’t look like it to me,” Biff scoffed and Ariel groaned, trying to plug her ears against the chaos.

“Well, he said it,” Val said, pointing at Professor Hobbes.

They were like schoolchildren.  _ He started it, no she started it! _

“It’s fine,” Dee Dee assured them. “The air is on a circular filter,” she said, but over the chaos, nobody heard her.

Ariel leant forward with a frown and turned to Dee Dee as chaos erupted around them. “What did you say?” Ariel asked Dee Dee.

Dee Dee seemed wary of the madness surrounding her and turned to Ariel sheepishly. “I just, the air is on a circular filter so we can stay breathing for ages,” she shrugged.

Ariel smiled. “Finally, someone talking some sense,” she breathed and the Doctor chuckled. 

Ariel stood up and everywhere around her people were talking or arguing with each other.

She took a deep breath. “Everyone! Shut it!” Ariel snapped.

The Doctor beamed at her and stood up by her side. He loved the confidence she had gained over the months they had known each other. “Thank you,” the Doctor nodded to the bus. “Now, if you'd care to listen to our good friend Dee Dee,” he said, gesturing to Dee Dee who stood up nervously.

“Oh. Er, it's just that, well, the air's on a circular filter, so we could stay breathing for ten years,” Dee Dee said nervously.

Everyone seemed to slump back in relief as they understood.

“There you go,” the Doctor sighed. “And we've spoken to the Captain,” he said, nodding to himself and Ariel. “We can guarantee you everything's fine.”

Almost as if to contradict his words, there was a loud thumping on the side of the shuttle. Everyone jumped back in shock.

“What was that?” Val breathed.

“It must be the metal,” Professor Hobbes nodded. “We're cooling down. It's just settling,” he assured them, though Ariel wasn’t certain if he was trying to reassure them or himself.

“Rocks,” Dee Dee shrugged. “It could be rocks falling.”

“What I want to know is, how long do we have to sit here,” Biff sighed.

There was another thumping, moving along the side of the shuttle to where Jethro was seated. He skidded backwards and stared at the wall with wide eyes.

Ariel held her breath almost awaiting what could possibly be behind that wall.

“What is that?” Sky breathed.

“There’s someone out there,” Val muttered.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look, both knowing it was the shadow Claude had seen in the cockpit.

“Now, don’t be ridiculous,” Professor Hobbes scoffed.

“Like I said, it could be rocks,” Dee Dee nodded, shrugging slightly at the idea.

“We're out in the open,” the hostess sighed. “Nothing could fall against the sides.”

Just as she said that, the sound moved closer to the the back door and knocked once again to prove her point.

“Knock, knock,” the Doctor hummed, stepping closer with a frown.

“Who’s there?” Jethro smirked.

“What could that be?” Ariel breathed.

“It’s nothing!” Professor Hobbes snapped. “There’s nothing out there!”

There were two more knocks.

“Is there something out there? Well? Anyone?” Sky prompted, eyes wide in terror as she looked through the group that seemed just as confused as she was. “What the hell is making that noise?!”

“I'm sorry, but the light out there is Xtonic,” Professor Hobbes sighed. “That means it would destroy any living thing in a split second. It is impossible for someone to be outside.”

Once again, two more knocks strongly contradicted his point.

“What the hell is that then?!” Sky shrieked.

The Doctor pulled out his stethoscope and held it up for Ariel to see. She nodded and the pair ran to the wall to listen it.

“You really should get back to your seats,” the hostess nodded.

The couple ignored her and listened in for any sounds other than the loud thumping.

“Hello?” The Doctor breathed.

The creature outside thumped out a hello in return and moved quickly to the emergency exit.

The Doctor and Ariel jumped up and the Doctor pushed Ariel behind him as the creature neared the emergency exit.

“It’s moving,” Jethro announced with wide eyes.

“It’s going for the door,” Ariel mumbled.

The emergency exit rattled as the creature tried to open it.

“It’s trying the door!” Val exclaimed.

“There is no it,” Professor Hobbes snapped. “There's nothing out there. Can't be,” he insisted.

There was another quick rattle of the door before the creature seemed to jump onto the roof and try the entrance.

“That’s the entrance,” Val breathed. “Can it get in?”

“No,” Dee Dee shook her head. “That door's on two hundred weight hydraulics,” she assured them.

“Stop it, don’t encourage them,” Professor Hobbes snapped.

“Well, what do you think it is?” Dee Dee mumbled.

“Could something break through that?” Ariel frowned, speaking softly to the Doctor. They always spoke about the danger that might happen away from those who might hear to keep people from growing worried. It was the best way for them to stay prepared but not scare others.

“I dunno,” the Doctor hummed. “But if it does, we’ve got a rescue truck coming.”

“In an hour,” Ariel nodded. “You and I both know what could happen in an hour,” she sighed.

“If that thing comes in here, you know we have to-,” the Doctor began.

“It takes us before them,” Ariel nodded. “I know.”

That had been a lesson she learnt all too well with the Doctor. If it came against two people who’s only ties were each other and innocent people who didn’t sign up for the dangers the universe posed, they were always going to be first to go.

“Biff, don’t,” Val said, reaching her hand out to her husband as he walked up to the entrance and placed a tentative hand on it.

“Mister Cane, better not,” the Doctor advised.

“Sir, I wouldn’t want to be standing there if that thing breaks through,” Ariel winced.

“Nah,” Biff sighed. “It’s cast iron, that door,” he said, knocking three times to exemplify its sturdiness.

Only the creature on the other side knocked three times in return.

“Three times,” Val breathed. “Did you hear that? It did it three times!” She exclaimed.

Jethro looked at Ariel with wide eyes. “It answered,” he mumbled.

“So, it’s an intelligent lifeform that can respond,” Ariel muttered. “But what could survive out there?” She wondered.

“Maybe, something evolved on its own,” the Doctor breathed. “This planet was left untouched for ages, maybe, something grew during that time.”

“It did it three times!” Val shrieked.

“Alright, alright, alright,” the Doctor sighed. “Everyone calm down.”

“No, but it answered,” Sky insisted. “It answered. Don't tell me that thing's not alive. It answered him.”

“I really must insist you get back to your seats!” The hostess cried.

“No, don't just stand there telling us the rules!” Sky yelled. “You're the hostess. You're supposed to do something!”

“Doctor, don’t,” Ariel sighed.

“It’s alright,” the Doctor nodded as he pressed his ear against the door and pounded on it four times.

There was a pause as he backed away and Ariel grabbed his hand and squeezed three times. The Doctor squeezed back and right after he did so, the creature answered with four knocks.

“What is it? What the hell's making that noise?” Sky gasped. “She said she'd get me. Stop it. Make it stop. Somebody make it stop. Don't just stand there looking at me. It's not my fault. He started it with his stories.”

The whole bus stared at her with horrified eyes. Sure, everyone was scared but there was nobody more scared than her. She was backing away from the group, staring at the door in terror. 

The hostess ran to the back of the bus and got on the intercom while everyone tried to stop Sky from panicking so much.

“Calm down!” Dee Dee exclaimed.

“I understand you’re afraid, but we’ll work this out. We’ll survive,” Ariel nodded. “You don’t have to be so scared.”

“He made it worse!” Sky screamed, pointing at Biff.

“You’re not helping,” Val sighed.

“Why didn't you leave it alone? Stop staring at me. Just tell me what the hell it is,” Sky insisted.

“Calm down!” Dee Dee repeated.

The thumping started again, but it occurred on the roof, seeming to walk straight towards Sky as she backed away from the group.

“It's coming for me,” Sky gasped. “Oh, it's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me.”

The Doctor and Ariel watched the thumping move towards Sky with wide eyes as she backed up against the driver’s door and started screaming. The Doctor and Ariel dover towards her.

“Run!” Ariel yelled.

“Get out of there!” The Doctor bellowed.

Before they could reach Sky, there was a loud crash as the walling of the bus caved in. The bus rocked back and forth like it was being swung by some invisible force as it tossed everyone around the shuttle, falling into each other and though the seats. 

Sparks flew and the lights of the bus flickered before eventually going on.

When the rocking finally stopped, Ariel’s head was on Jethro’s chest as she sat up with a groan and clutched her temple.

“You alright?” Jethro asked and Ariel nodded. He helped her to stand up and she immediately started looking for the Doctor.

“Doctor!” Ariel cried. 

“Ariel?” The Doctor breathed. He climbed over a bunch of seats and hugged her tightly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Ariel nodded, breathing roughly as she glanced around. “What about you?”

“Arms, legs, neck, head, nose. I'm fine,” the Doctor nodded and she grinned, kissing him quickly and turning to the others. “Everyone else? How are we?” The Doctor asked.

“What the hell was that?” Ariel wondered.

“Earthquake,” Professor Hobbes sighed. “Must be.”

“But that's impossible,” Dee Dee frowned and shook her head. “The ground is fixed. It's solid.”

“We've got torches,” the hostess announced. “Everyone take a torch. They're in the back of the seats.”

The Doctor nodded and grabbed Ariel’s hand, guiding her to one of the seats so they could each pick up a torch.

“Oh, Jethro,” Val sighed, walking over to her son and attempting to give him a hug before he shrugged her away. “Sweetheart, come here.”

“Never mind me,” Jethro shrugged, shining his torch on the very front of the bus. “What about her?”

Ariel and the Doctor spun around to see Sky, surrounded by collapsed and torn up chairs, clutching her head.

They shared a frown and approached the blonde slowly and cautiously, unaware of why she may be cowering surrounded by torn up seats.

“What’s happened to the seats?” Val asked with a small frown.

“Who did that?” Biff wondered.

“They’ve been ripped up,” Val breathed.

The Doctor and Ariel knelt down beside Sky and he placed a tentative hand on her shoulder, but she never turned around. “It's alright, it's alright, it's alright. It's over,” the Doctor assured her. “We're still alive. Look, the wall's still intact. Do you see?” He said, shining a torch onto the wall by her side. The wall was dented inwards, but still in tact.

“Doctor, who tore up the seats?” Ariel whispered into his ear, shining her torch onto the seats.

The Doctor simply shrugged in response. He turned to Sky with wide eyes. “We’re safe,” he nodded to her.

“Driver Joe, can you hear me?” The hostess said into the comms. “I'm not getting any response. The intercom must be down,” she said as she walked to the front of the ship.

She opened the driver’s door and was immediately blinded by the Xtonic sun rays beaming into the shuttle.

Ariel winced back, squeezing her eyes shut as the Doctor wrapped his arms around her and practically shielded her from the light with his body.

The hostess ran up to the door and closed it as alarms began sounding at the presence of the toxic light.

The Doctor took a deep breath and pulled away from Ariel, cupping her cheek and brushing a few brown hairs out of her eyes.

“Are you alright?” The Doctor asked, his tone low and gentle as he spoke to her.

While he breathing was shallow, she closed her eyes and nodded.

“What happened?” Val gasped. “What was that?”

“Is it the driver? Have we lost the driver?” Biff asked.

“The cabin’s gone,” the hostess breathed.

“Don't be ridiculous,” Professor Hobbes snapped. “It can't be gone. How can it be gone?”

“Well, well, you saw it,” Dee Dee reasoned with a shrug.

“There was nothing there, like it was ripped away,” the hostess sighed.

The Doctor ignored all of them and cupped Ariel’s cheek, raising an eyebrow at her and silently ensuring she was okay to go on.

Ariel nodded and he smiled before pulling her towards a small black panel on the wall. Ariel shined her torch on him while he pulled out his sonic and tried to get it open.

“What are you doing?” Biff frowned, shining his torch on the couple.

“Ah, that's better,” the Doctor smiled. “Little bit more light. Thank you. Molto bene,” he grinned.

“Fantastico,” Ariel nodded.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Val asked.

“Course he does,” Ariel shrugged. “He’s a genius,” she smiled.

The Doctor’s cheeks pinkened but he grinned, never looking up at Ariel as he worked.

“The cabin's gone. You'd better leave that wall alone,”  Biff advised.

“It’s alright, it’s not going to open the door again, so you don’t have to worry,” Ariel assured them and everyone nodded except Professor Hobbes, still in denial.

“The cabin can’t be gone,” Professor Hobbes mumbled.

“It’s safe,” the Doctor nodded, ignoring Professor Hobbes. “Any rupture would automatically seal itself,” he told them.

The Doctor removed the panel and they all stared at it with wide eyes, shining their torches down on the cut wires.

“But something sliced it off,” the Doctor breathed. “You're right, the cabin's gone,” he nodded, his shock never fading as he stared down at the cut panel in his hands.

“But if it gets seperated?” The hostess prompted, silently praying that the driver and mechanic were still alive somewhere.

The Doctor looked at her with mournful eyes. He could tell she was close to the driver and mechanic. After so many bus rides they were probably close friends. “It loses integrity. I'm sorry, they've been reduced to dust. The driver and the mechanic.”

“They’re gone,” Ariel nodded, staring at her with sad eyes.

“But they sent a distress signal. Help is on its way,” the Doctor informed them with a hopeful nod. “They saved our lives. We are going to get out of here, I promise. We're still alive, and they are going to find us,” he assured them.

“Ariel,” Jethro sighed. “Look at her,” he said, nodding to Sky.

The Doctor and Ariel both turned to Sky with a frowned as they saw her still sitting in the same position with her hands desperately clutching her head.

“Right. Yes. Sorry,” the Doctor nodded. “Have we got a medical kit?” He asked the hostess.

“Why won’t she turn around?” Jethro wondered.

Ariel would never admit it aloud, but she was beginning to grow freaked out around Sky. Everyone else had gotten up and moved around, but she barely moved a finger. It was offsetting.

“What’s her name?” Professor Hobbes asked the hostess.

“Silvestry. Mrs Sky Silvestry,” the hostess nodded.

The Doctor knelt down to Sky once again and Ariel remained standing, keeping herself behind him as she watched Sky with wary eyes.

“Sky? Can you hear me?” The Doctor prompted. “Are you alright? Can you move, Sky? Just look at me,” he requested.

“That noise from outside. It's stopped,” Jethro remarked, looking around at the roof where the sound had been.

“Well, thank God for that,” Val sighed.

“But what if it's not outside anymore? What if it's inside?” Jethro proposed.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Ariel nodded. “And I’d hate to say it makes sense,” she mumbled.

His mother however, was less quick on the uptake.

“Inside?” Val gasped. “Where?”

Jethro and Ariel shared a nod before he turned his torch on Sky. “It was heading for her,” he remembered.

“Sky? It's alright, Sky,” the Doctor assured her. “I just want you to turn around, face me.”

Sky did exactly that, slowly and then whipping her head towards the rest of the bus, tracking each of them in turn, eyeing Ariel for a moment before peering at the Doctor and mimicking his every movement.

“Sky?” The Doctor prompted.

“Sky,” she repeated.

“Are you alright?” The Doctor asked.

“Are you alright?”

“Are you hurt?” The Doctor said.

“Are you hurt?”

“It’s alright, you can tell us,” Ariel nodded.

“It’s alright, you can tell us.”

“But you don’t have to talk if you don’t want,” the Doctor shook his head.

“But you don’t have to talk if you don’t want.”

“We’re trying to help,” the Doctor frowned.

“We’re trying to help.”

“She’s repeating every word we say,” Ariel breathed. “I don’t think that’s Sky anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am definitely not planning on including Sky repeating everything so I'm probably gonna write a brief thing about her repeating everything and, spoilers if you have never seen this episode, I'm also gonna write a brief thing when she starts speaking in unison with everybody.


	29. The Creature and Its' Captive

Sky repeated every word everybody said. At first it was shocking and scary, but little by little it grew unnerving. Whenever someone different spoke, her tone would adopt the pitch of their voice. It almost felt like she was taking part of who you were for herself. 

The Doctor frowned as he watched Sky, studying her like a science experiment. 

“Why are you repeating?” The Doctor wondered and, as always, Sky repeated his phrase, never giving him an answer, just stealing the words he had granted her.

Ariel was almost too afraid to speak. She couldn’t bear the thought of Sky looking up at her and repeating whatever she said back to her with the same pitch as her voice. 

“What is that, learning?” The Doctor wondered. “Copying? Absorbing?”

Ariel tapped his shoulder and stared at him with wide eyes. He smiled softly and wrapped his arm around her. She placed her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath. She was used to fighting aliens but somehow it felt different when it was a human being looking at you but not speaking to you.

“The square root of pi is 1.772453850905516027298167483341. Wow,” the Doctor breathed as Sky followed, repeating every number he said.

“But that’s impossible,” Professor Hobbes gasped.

“She couldn’t repeat all that,” Dee Dee frowned.

“How is she even doing this?” Ariel muttered. “I mean, it’s like she knew how you were going to finish before you even did.”

“I don’t know,” the Doctor mumbled. “But I do know that whatever that creature was, somehow, someway, it’s living in her.”

“She’s driving me mad,” Val sighed. “Just make her stop!”

Everyone started speaking over each other, all rambling on about what Mrs Silvestri had become while Sky, ever persistent, continued to repeat after each of them.

“Stop her staring at me. Shut her up,” Val snapped.

“It’s got to be a trick,” the hostess sighed.

“That’s impossible,” Dee Dee muttered.

“I'm telling you, whatever your name is,” Biff warned.

“Now, just stop it all of you,” the Doctor said.

“Whatever she is, we can’t go overwhelming her. We have to take this slow,” Ariel nodded.

“Her eyes,” Professor Hobbes mumbled as he watched her. “What's wrong with her eyes?”

“She can copy anything?” Jethro prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“It looks like that, yeah,” Ariel nodded.

“Biff, don't just stand there, do something. Make her stop!” Val shrieked.

Biff wrapped his arms around his wife and glared at Sky. “You’re scaring my wife,” he said.

“Mrs Silvestri,” the hostess muttered and Sky repeated after her. A different person within her own mind.

“Six, six, six,” Jethro smirked and snickered when Sky repeated after him.

“Oh, Jethro, just leave it,” Ariel moaned. “She can’t help that she repeats.”

“She's different. She's something else. Do something. Make her stop!” Val cried.

All of a sudden, machines whirred and all the lights turned back on. Ariel sighed loudly in relief as all of the other passengers took deep breaths and seemed to feel just a bit better at the thought of not facing an unknown creature in the dark.

“That’s the backup system,” the hostess nodded.

“Well, that’s a bit better,” Biff sighed.

Ariel frowned at Sky. She wasn’t repeating after everyone anymore. She wasn’t even saying a word, just tracking everyone with unblinking eyes.

“Then I suggest we all calm down,” Professor Hobbes instructed. “This panic isn't helping. That poor woman is evidently in a state of self induced hysteria,” he said and Ariel’s eyes widened.

Sky was speaking at the same time as Professor Hobbes.

“We should leave her alone,” the Professor and Sky said.

Ariel tapped the Doctor’s shoulder and gestured to Sky and he nodded, seeing and hearing the same thing.

“Ariel,” Jethro breathed.

“Yeah,” Ariel nodded.

“I know,” the Doctor muttered.

“Doctor, Ariel, now step back. I think you should leave her,” Professor Hobbes froze, his eyes widening at he realized that Sky was speaking at the same time as him. “Alone,” they breathed. “What's she doing?” Professor Hobbes frowned and Sky grinned at their realization.

“How can she do that?” Val gasped, her voice sounding perfectly in sync with Sky’s. “She's talking with you. And with me. Oh, my God. Biff, what's she doing?!” Val exclaimed.

“She's repeating, at exactly the same time,” Jethro nodded, watching Sky warily as she spoke with him.

“She’s caught up with everyone,” Ariel said, never taking her eyes off of Sky.

“That’s impossible,” Dee Dee gasped.

“Apparently not,” Ariel mumbled, but no matter how low she spoke, Sky bore the same tone in her voice.

“There’s not even a delay,” Professor Hobbes breathed with wide eyes.

“Oh man, that is weird,” Jethro frowned, shaking his head at Sky as she spoke with him.

“I think you should all be very, very quiet,” the Doctor instructed and Ariel nodded, grabbing his hand and squeezing three times. He returned the gesture and gave her a reassuring smile, making her smile back softly before he turned back to the other passengers. “Have you got that?” He prompted.

“How’s she doing it?” Val whispered, staring at Sky in horror.

“How can she do that? She's got my voice! She's got my words!” Val cried, Sky screaming along with her but never moving.

“Come on, be quiet,” Biff said, pulling his wife away and trying to calm her down, hardly noticing that Sky was speaking with him. Hush, now. Hush. She's doing it to me,” his eyes widened as he realized Sky was saying the same thing.

“Just stop it, all of you. Stop it, please,” the Doctor requested.

“Just back away and let’s see if we can figure out the extent of this,” Ariel nodded, trying to keep the passengers calm.

They all did as she said and took a couple steps back at the Doctor sent Ariel a grateful smile. She nodded at him and he took a deep breath before they both knelt down in front of Sky.

“Now then, Sky,” the Doctor sighed. “Are you Sky? Is Sky still in there? Mrs Silvestry? You know exactly what I'm going to say. How are you doing that?” He frowned, he pulled away for a moment, thinking of completely random phrases to see if she could still speak in unison. “Roast beef. Bananas. The Medusa Cascade. Bang!” The Doctor exclaimed. 

“Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Ariel Parsons, Donna Noble, Tardis. Shamble bobble dibble dooble. Oh, Doctor, you're so handsome. Yes, I am, thank you,” he grinned and Ariel snickered, rolling her eyes at him. He just had to take the opportunity while it was there. He smiled quickly at her before whipping his head around to Sky. “A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O,” he froze before he could finish and pulled away with wide eyes. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and stood up, taking a deep breath as he did so. “Alright, first she repeats, then she catches up. What's the next stage?” He wondered.

“You think there’s more to this?” Ariel and Sky both said as Ariel stared up at the Doctor with wide eyes.

The Doctor nodded and sighed softly. “There must be,” he shrugged.

“Next stage of what?” Dee Dee frowned.

“You were right, Ariel. That's not her, is it?” Jethro prompted, shining his torch down on Sky. “That's not Mrs Silvestry any more,” he muttered.

“I don't think so, no,” the Doctor shook his head and narrowed his eyes at Sky as she spoke with him. “I think the more we talk, the more she learns. Now, I'm all for education, but in this case, maybe not. Let's just move back. Come on. Come with me. Everyone, get back. All of you, as far as you can,” he instructed, guiding the passengers to the back of the bus.

“Doctor, make her stop,” Val begged.

“Val, come with me,” the Doctor said. Come to the back. Stop looking at her,” he advised.

“Don’t look at her, Jethro!” Ariel called.

The Doctor turned and gestured for Jethro to follow him. “Come on, Jethro. You too,” he nodded. “Everyone, come on. Fifty minutes, that's all we need. Fifty minutes till the rescue arrives. And she's not exactly strong. Look at her. All she's got is our voices,” he shrugged.

“Strange, but not exactly threatening,” Ariel nodded. As much as she hated it, she was beginning to get used to Sky just bothering them with their voices.

“I can't, I can't look at her,” Val muttered, shielding her face with her hand. “It's those eyes.”

Dee Dee watched Sky staring at them and continuing to speak their every word alongside them. “We must not look at goblin men,” Dee Dee and Sky murmured.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Biff frowned.

“It’s a poem,” the Doctor said. “Christina Rossetti.”

“‘We must not look at goblin men. We must not buy their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they fed Their hungry, thirsty roots?’” Dee Dee and Sky quoted.

“As much as I love the poem, I don’t think that’s best right now,” Ariel remarked.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s helping,” the Doctor nodded.

“She's not a goblin, or a monster,” Professor Hobbes snapped. “She's just a very sick woman,” he insisted.

“Maybe that’s why it went for her,” Jethro proposed with a shrug.

“There is no it,” Professor Hobbes said, glaring at Jethro.

Ariel ignored Professor Hobbes and turned to raise an eyebrow at Jethro. “What do you mean?” Ariel asked.

“Think about it,” Jethro said. “That knocking went all the way round the bus until it found her. And she was the most scared out of all of us. Maybe that's what it needed. That's how it got in.”

“Because she was afraid?” Ariel clarified.

“Yeah,” Jethro nodded.

“He does make a good point,” Ariel nodded to the Doctor. “Maybe, the creature was able to feed off her emotion, or something less graphic,” she frowned as she realized how disturbing what she had said sounded.

The Doctor frowned and nodded, taking the idea into consideration.

“For the last time,” Professor Hobbes sighed. “Nothing can live on the surface of Midnight.”

“Professor, I'm glad you've got an absolute definition of life in the universe, but perhaps the universe has got ideas of its own, hmm?” The Doctor prompted. “Now trust me, I've got previous. I think there might well be some consciousness inside Mrs Silvestry, but maybe she's still in there. And it's our job to help her,” he insisted.

“There’s a chance she’s still alive in there?” Ariel frowned.

“Possibly,” the Doctor nodded. “I’m not sure.”

“We’ve gotta hope we can at least help her,” Ariel nodded.

“Well, the pair of you can help her,” Biff sighed. “I'm not going near.”

“No, I've got to stay back,” the Doctor nodded. “Because if she's copying us, then maybe the final stage is becoming us. I don't want her becoming me, or things could get a whole lot worse.”

“Blimey,” Ariel said with wide eyes at the very thought. A new lifeform that had already killed with the brain of the Doctor. Things could go very, very wrong.

“Exactly,” the Doctor nodded.

“Oh, like you’re so special,” Val scoffed.

“As it happens, yes, I am,” the Doctor snapped. “So that's decided. We stay back, and we wait. When the rescue ship comes, we can get her to hospital.”

Ariel nodded. “Alright,” she mumbled. 

There was pure, innocent silence for a few moments until the hostess broke that silence and placed a very dangerous idea in people’s minds.

“We should throw her out,” the hostess muttered.

Everyone turned to her with wide eyes. With those five words the dynamic of the atmosphere shifted and took a turn down a slippery slope.

“I beg your pardon?” Professor Hobbes prompted, in sheer disbelief that the idea had been brought up.

“Sorry?” Ariel said, unwilling to believe that the hostess had actually suggested murder.

“Can we do that?” Val asked, much less opposed to the idea than the others.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” the Doctor scoffed.

“Please don’t tell me this an actual discussion occurring,” Ariel said. Sure, there had been moments when Sky freaked her out, but she wasn’t going to resort to murdering her.

“That thing, whatever it is, killed the driver, and the mechanic, and I don't think she's finished yet,” the hostess insisted, watching Sky with wide eyes.

“She can’t even move,” the Doctor sighed.

“The only time she has moved since the blackout is turning to face us,” Ariel nodded. “She hasn’t even stood up.”

“Look at her,” the hostess insisted. “Look at her eyes. She killed Joe, and she killed Claude, and we're next.”

“You can’t know that,” Ariel said. “All she’s done while in the bus is repeat us,” she shrugged.

“She's still doing it. Just stop it. Stop talking. Stop it!” Biff yelled, marching forward and screaming at Sky who simultaneously screamed his own words back at him.

“Biff, don’t sweetheart,” Val begged, pulling her husband back to the group.

“But she won't stop,” Biff insisted. “We can't throw her out, though. We can't even open the doors,” he shrugged, mumbling bitterly.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually upset you can’t murder someone!” Ariel snapped, now growing angry with the group. They were ordinary people. Good people, and they were willing to reduce themselves to killers.

She knew the feeling of taking a life, and even just one person haunts you forever. 

“No one is getting thrown out,” the Doctor said firmly.

“Yes, we can,” Dee Dee said, ignoring both the Doctor and Ariel. “Because there's an air pressure seal. Like when you opened the cabin door, you weren't pulled out. You had a couple of seconds, because it takes the pressure wall about six seconds to collapse. Well, six seconds exactly. That's enough time to throw someone out.”

“Oh, you are kidding me!” Ariel exclaimed, Sky’s voice ringing in her ears as the blonde woman said the same words in unison.

“Thanks, Dee Dee,” the Doctor said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. “Just what we needed.”

“Would it kill her outside?” The hostess asked.

“I don't know,” Dee Dee shrugged. “But she's got a body now. It would certainly kill the physical form.”

“No one is killing anyone,” the Doctor insisted.

“Are you seriously all willing to become murderers over this?” Ariel asked with wide eyes.

They all ignored the Doctor and Ariel to couple’s irritation. Ariel raked her fingers through her hair, her breathing growing frantic as she realized they were actually going to murder someone and she can’t seem to stop them. “I wouldn't risk the cabin door twice, but we've got that one. All we need to do is grab hold of her and throw her out,” the hostess nodded.

“Now, listen, all of you,” the Doctor snapped. “For all we know that's a brand new life form over there. And if it's come inside to discover us, than what's it found? This little bunch of humans. What do you amount to, murder? Because this is where you decide. You decide who you are. Could you actually murder her? Any of you? Really? Or are you better than that?” He asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Ariel sighed.

There was a moment of silence before the hostess, once again, ever the gadfly, spoke first. “I’d do it,” she nodded.

Soon after, the others followed.

“So would I,” Biff agreed.

“And me,” Val added.

“This is absolutely insane,” Ariel sighed. “You’re letting your fear take over and turn you into something you never want to be!” She exclaimed.

“I think we should do it,” Dee Dee mumbled.

“What?” The Doctor frowned, eyes wide as he looked down at Dee Dee.

“Oh, not you too Dee Dee,” Ariel moaned.

Dee Dee gave the couple each a sympathetic look. “I want her out,” she shrugged.

“You can’t say that,” the Doctor insisted.

“Yes, please, don’t say that,” Ariel begged.

“I'm sorry, but you said it yourself, Doctor. She is growing in strength,” Dee Dee nodded.

“That’s not what I said,” the Doctor shook his head. “Did I say that?” He asked Ariel.

“You never said that,” Ariel agreed.

“I want to go home,” Dee Dee sighed. “I'm sorry. I want to be safe.”

“You'll be safe any minute now,” the Doctor promised. “The rescue truck is on its way.”

“You’ll be safe and we can save a life rather than taking one,” Ariel nodded.

“But what happens then?” The hostess wondered. “If it takes that thing back to the Leisure Palace, if that thing reaches civilisation. What if it spreads?”

“She won’t spread,” Ariel muttered. “Not when we know what she does and know that we have to contain her.”

“Exactly,” the Doctor nodded. “When we back back to base, Ariel and I’ll be there to contain it,” he said, grabbing Ariel’s hand and squeezing so tightly, she worried he may break it in his anxiety.

“Neither of you have done much so far,” Val remarked.

“You’re both just standing in the back with the rest of us,” Biff frowned, not seeing how they can do much to stop the creature.

“She's dangerous,” the hostess insisted. “It's my job to see that this vessel is safe, and we should get rid of her,” she nodded firmly.

“Now, hang on,” Professor Hobbes said, holding out a leveling hand to calm the group. “I think perhaps we're all going a little bit too far.”

“At last,” the Doctor sighed.

“Yes, finally,” Ariel grinned.

“Thank you,” the Doctor nodded.

“Two people are dead!” The hostess snapped, stomping her foot like an angry child not getting her way.

“Don't make it a third,” the Doctor sighed. “Jethro, what do you say?” The Doctor asked. He had seen how close Jethro and Ariel were and knew that if she had chosen to be friends with him, he was probably a good person.

“I’m not killing anyone,” Jethro nodded.

“Thank you,” the Doctor smiled.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Ariel grinned and Jethro smirked.

“He’s just a boy,” Val scoffed.

“What, so I don’t get a vote?” Jethro frowned.

“Yeah, he deserves a say in this,” Ariel nodded.

“There isn't a vote,” the Doctor snapped. “It's not happening. Ever. If you try to throw her out that door, you'll have to get past me first,” he said firmly.

“And me,” Ariel added with a nod.

There was a short pause as they all weighed their options.

Then, the devil’s advocate voiced what she thought was best. “Okay,” the hostess shrugged.

“Fine by me,” Biff said simply.

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Ariel sighed, eyes wide as she looked at each person more than willing to kill her just to make sure they can survive the whole fifty minutes from a woman who hadn’t even stood up.

“Oh, now you're being stupid,” the Doctor moaned. “A minute ago you were talking about one woman, now you’re considering killing three people. Just think about it. Could you actually take three people and throw them out of that door?” The Doctor asked.

“Calling me a coward?” Biff prompted, glaring at the pair.

“No, we’re not calling you a coward!” Ariel exclaimed. “A murderer is a terrible thing to become out of pure fear. You’re letting your emotions take control.”

“Who put the two of you in charge anyway?” Val wondered.

Ariel looked up at the Doctor with wide eyes and he gave her the same expression. They were all turning on them and seeming more than ready to kill them.

“I'm sorry, but you're a Doctor of what, exactly?” Professor Hobbes prompted.

“They weren't even booked in,” the hostess added. “The rest of you, tickets in advance. They just turned up out of the blue,” she shrugged.

Ariel gulped harshly.

“Where from?” Val prompted.

“We’re just travelling,” the Doctor mumbled. “Travelling together, that’s it.”

“‘Just a couple travelling together,” Ariel nodded, trying for a smile but quickly failing when the passengers continued to glare at them. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She was beginning to genuinely believe that they were willing to kill her.

“Like immigrants?” Val guessed.

“Who were you talking to?” The hostess wondered. “Before you got on board, both of you were talking to someone. Who was that?”

“Just Donna,” the Doctor shrugged. “Just our friend.”

“And what were you saying to her?” Biff prompted.

“Why does that even matter?” Ariel moaned.

“If it doesn’t matter than tell us,” Biff insisted.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I did, so why bother,” Ariel shrugged.

“He hasn’t even told us his name,” Val frowned at the Doctor, inspecting him like some common criminal.

“The thing is though, both of you have been loving this,” Jethro remarked with a small frown.

“No, Jethro,” Ariel sighed, genuinely hating that her new friend had turned on her so quickly.

“Oh, Jethro, not you,” the Doctor muttered. Neither of them wanted to face Jethro turning against them.

“No, but ever since all the trouble started, you've been loving it,” Jethro nodded.

“It has to be said, you do seem to have a certain glee,” Professor Hobbes observed with a shrug.

“Alright, I'm interested,” the Doctor nodded. “Yes, I can't help it. Because whatever's inside her, it's brand new, and that's fascinating.”

“I just find it interesting to see the first life on this planet,” Ariel shrugged with a soft sigh.

“What, you both wanted this to happen?” Val frowned.

“No,” the Doctor shook his head.

“Of course not!” Ariel exclaimed. “We don’t want anybody to die!”

“You were talking to her, both of you, all on your own, before all the trouble,” Biff remembered with wide eyes. “Right at the front, you were talking to that Sky woman, the three of you together. I saw you,” he nodded.

“We all did,” Val nodded in agreement.

The Doctor seemed to start losing hope as he lost track of all the accusations against him and Ariel.

“And both of you went into the cabin,” the hostess added.

“What did you two say to her?”  Biff asked.

“We were just talking,” the Doctor shrugged.

“It was nothing,” Ariel insisted. “We were just being friendly talking to her.”

“Saying what?” Biff prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“You called us humans like you're not one of us,” Jethro remembered with a small frown.

“He did,” Val nodded. “That’s what he said.”

“And the wiring. They went into that panel and opened up the wiring,” Dee Dee added.

“How is that important?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“That was after,” the Doctor nodded, agreeing with Ariel.

“But how did you know what to do?” Biff wondered.

“Because I’m clever!” The Doctor roared, finally growing irritated with everyone picking on the pair of them. Ariel didn’t even stop him or reprimand him, she just looked dead ahead at the group.

“I see,” Professor Hobbes sighed and Ariel’s eyes widened. “Well, that makes things clear.”

“He’s just smart, that’s nothing against you lot,” Ariel frowned. They took everything so personally.

“And what are we, then? Idiots?” Biff prompted.

“No!” Ariel exclaimed.

“That’s not what I meant,” the Doctor assured them.

“If you’re clever, then what are we?” Dee Dee wondered. “What is your girlfriend?”

“Oh, don’t involve me in this,” Ariel moaned.

“Why shouldn’t we?” Val asked. “You’ve been practically guarding him this whole time. What for?”

“Because I care about him, are these really the questions you’re asking?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“You both think you’re so high and mighty,” the hostess sighed.

“You’ve got to be joking,” Ariel muttered.

“You've been looking down on us from the moment we walked in,” Val nodded.

“Even if they go, they’ve practically volunteered,” the hostess shrugged.

“Oh come on, just listen to yourself, please,” the Doctor moaned.

“Do you mean we throw them out as well?” Biff prompted with a small frown.

“If we have to,” the hostess nodded.

“Listen to yourselves!” Ariel pleaded.

“Mum, this is mad,” Jethro nodded. “We can’t throw Ariel out. Even if that man is alien, she told me she’s human too.”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant!” Ariel snapped. “If he goes out, I’m going with him.”

“Ariel,” the Doctor breathed. He tried to reach forward and grabbed her hand but she pulled away.

“No!” Ariel cried. “If they’re going to kill you, they need to be willing to kill a human too. Someone who is not a threat.”

“If we have to do it we will,” the hostess nodded.

“Oh, you’ve got to be joking!” Ariel moaned. She spun around and ran her fingers through her hair, unsure of what else she could say to save those people. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not they’d throw her and the Doctor out, it was a matter of whether or not she could stop them from murdering.

“Look, just,” the Doctor said, stepping forward and deciding to try and reason with the group. “Right, sorry, yes, hold on, just. I know you're scared, and so am I. Look at me, I am,” he nodded, holding up his shaking hands. “But we have all got to calm down and cool off and think,” he insisted.

The group seemed to blatantly unaware of what they were doing to the couple.

“Perhaps you could tell us your name,” Professor Hobbes proposed. “And you, Miss Ariel, you could tell us your last.”

“What does it matter?” The Doctor asked simply.

“Yeah, why is it so important?” Ariel wondered.

“Then tell us,” the hostess nodded.

The Doctor faltered and took a deep breath. “John Smith.”

“Ariel Smith,” Ariel nodded.

The Doctor frowned down at Ariel. She could’ve given them her real last name. She didn’t have to lie, and yet she took the same last name as him. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile and a quick nod and he realized. If they knew she was telling the truth and he was lying. They would still kill him and save her because she was an ordinary human. If he was going to die, she was making sure she was dying with him.

His hearts swelled at the thought. It was rare that you found someone willing to go through so much to die with you.

“Your real names!” Professor Hobbes snapped.

“They’re lying,” Biff hummed, pointing at the pair. “Look at their faces.”

“Their eyes are the same as hers,” Dee Dee mumbled.

“Oh, are you serious?” Ariel moaned.

“Why won’t you tell us?” Jethro asked. “Ariel?”

“Why do you care so much about some bloody names?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“It’s a simple enough question,” Dee Dee shrugged.

“You lot accepted the Doctor and just Ariel before, but now that you’re afraid, you need more than that. You need some sort of proof. It’s mad,” Ariel sighed.

“They’ve been lying to us right from the start,” Val muttered.

“What are your names?” The hostess asked once again.

“No one’s called John Smith,” Biff scoffed. “Come off it.”

“And you,” Val said, pointing an accusatory finger at Ariel. “You just chose Smith because he said it.”

“Now listen to me,” the Doctor begged. “Listen to me right now, because you need us, all of you. If we are going to get out of this, then you need us,” he nodded.

“So you keep saying,” Professor Hobbes nodded and Ariel’s eyes widened. There wasn’t the familiar second voice accompanying him as he spoke. “You've been repeating yourself more than her,” he said, waving towards Sky, not noticing she wasn’t speaking with him.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel muttered. Her heart stopped as she didn’t hear Sky speak with her either.

“If anyone's in charge, it should be the Professor,” Val nodded. “He's the expert.”

Jethro’s eyes widened as well as he realized it.

“Mum, stop. Just look,” Jethro said, tapping his mother’s arm and gesturing to Sky.

“You keep out of this, Jethro!” Val snapped.

“No, seriously!” Ariel exclaimed. 

“Look at her!” Jethro shouted.

The whole group turned to see Sky sitting there, staring at them but never speaking with them.

“She’s not doing it anymore,” Ariel sighed.

“She’s stopped,” Dee Dee breathed.

“When did she?” The Doctor frowned, but the frown set even deeper when Sky spoke at the same time. “No, she hasn't. She's still doing it,” he and Sky said.

“She looks the same to me,” Val shrugged and her eyes widened in joy when she realized that only her voice was heard. “No, she's stopped. Look, I'm talking, and she's not.”

“What about me, is she?” Biff asked and smiled in relief when Sky didn’t move her lips. “Look. Look at that. She's not doing me. She's let me go.”

“Mrs Silvestry?” The hostess prompted and sighed softly when Sky didn’t speak. “Nor me,” she shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Sky, what are you doing?” The Doctor frowned, kneeling down beside her.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed. “She hasn’t let you go, Doctor.”

“She’s still doing him,” Dee Dee muttered.

“Doctor, it's you,” Professor Hobbes said. “She's only copying you.”

“Why me?” The Doctor asked. “Why are you doing this?”

“Has she chosen you or something?” Ariel wondered, speculating what it might mean aloud. “If so, what for?” She mumbled. 

“She won’t leave him alone,” Dee Dee murmured.

“Do you see? I said so. She's with him,” Val nodded. “I’m very sorry that I got you wrong, dear,” she apologized.

“Him and her,” Biff breathed. “They’re together.”

“Now, hold on, just stop it!” Ariel snapped. “I came here with the Doctor, I know him and he is not that creature! Nor could he have possibly been with her!”

“Then how do you explain this?” Professor Hobbes wondered. Ariel just shook her head in confusion. “How do you explain it, Doctor, if you're so clever?”

“I don't know,” the Doctor sighed. “Sky, stop it. I said stop it. Just stop it.”

“Look at the two of them,” Val muttered.

“Something else is going on,” Ariel shook her head. “This creature, it’s doing something to him. It’s picked him out.”

“Mrs Silvestry, I'm trying to understand. You've captured my speech. What for? What do you need? You need my voice in particular. The cleverest voice in the room. Why? Because I'm the only one who can help? Oh, I'd love that to be true, but your eyes, they're saying something else. Listen to me. Whatever you want, if it's life, or form, or consciousness, or voice, you don't have to steal it. You can find it without hurting anyone. And I'll help you. That's a promise. So, what do you think?” The pair spoke in unison.

“Do you have a deal?” Sky asked.

“Do we have a deal?” The Doctor repeated.

Ariel’s heart stopped. “No,” she gasped.

“She spoke first,” Jethro remarked with wide eyes.

“She can’t have,” Val breathed.

“She did,” Professor Hobbes frowned.

“She spoke first,” Jethro repeated.

“Oh, look at that. I'm ahead of you,” Sky smiled down at the Doctor and he, in turn, repeated after her.

“No!” Ariel exclaimed, running forward. “What have you done?!” Ariel yelled, glaring at her. “What have you done to the Doctor?!”

“It isn’t me,” Sky shrugged.

“It isn’t me,” the Doctor repeated. Ariel looked down at him and saw his eyes teary and his face frozen.

Ariel fell to her knees and grew teary eye, grazing her thumb across his cheek and watching him sadly. “Oh, my Doctor,” Ariel breathed.

“Did you see?” Professor Hobbes gasped. “She spoke before he did. Definitely,” he nodded.

“He’s copying her,” Jethro mumbled.

“Doctor, what’s happened?” Professor Hobbes asked.

Ariel almost wanted to laugh at the very fact. Minutes ago, they had wanted to throw him out of the bus and now they were coming to him with questions when that creature had taken his mind? She wanted to yell at them for it, but her eyes were fixated on the Doctor’s glassy ones, silently crying out to him. She begged for the connection and ability they had to almost read each other’s minds, but he was frozen. He barely even blinked and she couldn’t read any gestures to know what was going on with him. 

She couldn’t know if the creature had really taken over his mind or not.

“I think it’s moved,” Sky sighed and the Doctor repeated.

Ariel’s heart broke when she watched the Doctor repeat her. It was almost as if he was looking straight through her. Like he didn’t even recognize her.

“I think it’s letting me go,” Sky smiled.

“What do you mean?” Dee Dee frowned. “Letting you go from what?”

“But he's repeating now,” Biff nodded. “He's the one doing it. It's him,” he said.

“They’re separating,” Jethro muttered.

“But look at her,” Dee Dee reasoned. “Look at Ariel,” she insisted. “She can see something in the Doctor. I don’t think he’s looking at her the way she was looking at us.”

“Doctor please,” Ariel begged, tear beginning to stream down her face. “You have to fight this. You have to come back to me. I’m no good solving this on my own. I’m not good without you.”

The passengers shared wary looks. None of them ignored the way Ariel was crying in front of the Doctor, but they also couldn’t deny the fact that the Doctor was repeating, not Sky.

“Mrs Silvestry, is that you?” Professor Hobbes asked cautiously, none of them daring to step as close as Ariel had gotten.

“Yes,” Sky grinned. “Yes, it’s me.”

The Doctor repeated, his voice rough and choked out as he spoke.

“I’m coming back,” Sky sighed. “Listen.”

“I’m coming back,” the Doctor repeated.

“It’s me,” Sky nodded.

“Listen. It’s me.”

“Like it's passed into the Doctor,” Jethro frowned. “It's transferred. Whatever it is, it's gone inside him,” he shrugged.

“No, that's not what happened,” Dee Dee shook her head.

Ariel looked up, tears streaming down her face and her cheeks bright pink as she cried. “She’s right!” Ariel exclaimed. “That isn’t what happened, listen to her!”

“But look at her,” Val insisted, nodding to Sky.

“Look at me,” Sky nodded. “I can move,” she smiled, moving her fingers joyfully. The Doctor continued to repeat after Sky, little by little killing Ariel every time she watched him speak and barely acknowledge her own existence before him.

“Oh, the poor girl,” Sky said, glancing at Ariel. “Stuck pining after a man who is gone.”

“Oh, the poor girl,” the Doctor repeated. “Stuck pining after a man who is gone.”

Ariel didn’t think the Doctor could break her heart anymore until he said those words straight to her face. She sobbed as she watched him stare at her stoically and repeat every line.

“Look at him,” Sky inisted. “He can’t move,” she smiled. Sky looked up at the group and sought out a single individual. She laid her eyes on the Professor. “Help me,” she requested. Professor Hobbes seemed alarmed at the very words.

“Help me,” the Doctor repeated, except baring a face of agony and pain.

“Oh, God,” Ariel breathed.

“Professor?” Sky prompted. She turned back to the Doctor and Ariel. “Get me away from him. Please.”

Professor Hobbes looked around anxiously and, sucking in a sharp breath. He nodded and walked towards her, skirting around the Doctor cautiously before pulling Sky off the ground, freeing the creature from the individual it held captive.


	30. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have changed quite a bit from the canon progression of this show so if you like when the chapter progresses like the show you may wanna skip ahead to Turn Left.

While Sky spent time convincing them she was her own person and thanking the passengers, Ariel remained in front of the Doctor. 

Little did she know, he was inside his own mind, caged, screaming for her to know he was still in there.

Ariel was listening to them and began believing herself that the creature might have moved into the Doctor.

She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears, grabbing the Doctor’s hands and staring at him firmly. It was going to be hard having a conversation with someone while they were repeating another person’s words, but she was willing to put in the effort for him.

“You know I’m doubting,” Ariel murmured. “You can see that in my face. You always knew when I was scared. Even when you first met me. But I’m gonna need you to stop that for me,” she said.

Meanwhile, Val hugged Sky tightly, immediately convinced that the creature was gone. 

“No, no, it's alright,” Val assured her. “I've got you. Ooo, there you are, my love. It's gone. Everything's all right now,” she nodded.

“I wouldn’t touch her,” Dee Dee frowned.

“But it's gone,” Biff shrugged. “She's clean. It passed into him,” he nodded.

“That’s not what happened,” Dee Dee shook her head.

“Thank you for your opinion, Dee, but clearly Mrs Silvestry has been released,” Professor Hobbes snapped.

Dee Dee stepped back, clearly wounded by everyone ganging up on her, but she still stuck firm to her beliefs. “No,” Dee Dee muttered.

Ariel sucked in a sharp breath as she stared at the Doctor. “If you’re in there. I know you’d want me to fight. To save you,” she nodded. “But I’m gonna need a sign, Doctor. I can’t read your mind like I normally do when you’re like this. I can’t figure out what you’re thinking when you’re frozen.”

The Doctor just stared at her. Inside his mind, he was listening. He knew Ariel was giving him the chance to prove he was still alive and he needed to listen. He knew she would give him a chance before losing hope and he didn’t want to risk losing that chance. 

“So, I want you to show me something without words. I know you can’t speak and your face seems to be frozen, but I don’t think she would take control of the lower half of your body excluding maybe your feet so you couldn’t get up,” Ariel shrugged. “It seems unlikely that she would have use of it,” she said. “So if you have control of something, your hands, your legs, something, use it,” she told him.

The Doctor racked the part of his mind he had access to. He tried to think of what he could possibly do to silently scream out to Ariel that he was still alive.

“I know you love me so if you have access to nothing, let that emotion overwhelm her,” Ariel said. “Find a way.”

The Doctor fought hard. He accessed recent memories. The only memories the creature had allowed him into. He remembered Ariel crying and the creature taunting her like she was nothing.

He allowed that emotion to overwhelm the creature’s senses and Sky gasped, skidding backward and clenching her chest as the Doctor smirked.

He grabbed onto Ariel’s hands tight and squeezed three time.

“Doctor!” Ariel exclaimed, laughing as tears of joy streamed down her face. “You’re in there,” she nodded. “It’s you,” she breathed.

Sky stared at them with wide eyes, in sheer disbelief that they had managed that.

Ariel tried desperately to catch her breath and swallowed harshly, nodding to the Doctor. She placed her head on his forehead and closed her eyes, squeezing his hand three times. “I promise you, I’ll save you,” she breathed. “I’ll do what I can. I swear,” she nodded.

Ariel took a deep breath and stood up. 

“She’s gone mad,” Sky remarked, trying to assert her control back as she felt the entire room shift in favor of the Doctor.

It was a full minute before the Doctor repeated after her again. “She’s gone mad.”

“No, I haven’t,” Ariel shook her head, marching up to Sky with a clenched jaw. “Because you felt that didn’t you. You felt the Doctor fighting back for control. I’m not gonna make some stupid speech about how our love conquered you, all I’m going to say is you felt the Doctor fighting back for control. As long as I’m standing here, he will keep fighting,” she nodded. 

Sky narrowed her eyes at her. Her expression betrayed all of who she was to Ariel, but she never allowed her words to do the same. 

“I keep telling you,” Sky insisted. “It’s him, not me.”

“You’re a goddamn liar,” Ariel snapped and smacked her. 

“Oi!” Val exclaimed. “You can’t do that to her! Just because it’s not inside of you doesn’t mean you can hurt her for passing it on to him.”

“Don’t you see?” Ariel sighed. “I asked the Doctor for a sign because I was starting to believe her. I genuinely believed she had infected the Doctor with this creature. He gave me a sign so I could keep fighting for him because that creature took his voice, his free will, and his body. It could do that to anyone of you.”

“And it will,” Sky nodded.

“And it will,” the Doctor repeated.

“That’s how he does it,” Sky said. “He creeps into your head and whispers. Listen. Just listen. That’s him.”

“No, that’s her,” Ariel snapped. “She’s trying to tell you what to do. To save herself and kill the Doctor.”

“I think she’s right,” Dee Dee nodded. “When she fell back. It was the Doctor doing something with Ariel. Right after she fell back, Ariel started crying like the Doctor had given her that sign.”

“Is that true?” Jethro asked.

“Yes,” Ariel nodded. She decided she should let them in on everything. Tell them what exactly had happened because last time she didn’t they wanted to throw her out. “I told him if he was still alive trapped inside his own mind and he let one emotion overwhelm him, I figured it would take her by surprise and give him at least a few seconds to give me some sort of sign. He did exactly that. I suggested love seeing as the creature had murdered two people, but he could’ve done anything,” she shrugged.

“Is it really her?” The hostess frowned.

Sky seemed wildly alarmed by the change in faith. “Don’t you see what he’s done? He’s creeped inside her mind. He’s allowed her to believe that man is still alive. He’s given her hope. That’s what he does. He gives hope and crushes it.”

“No, no, she’s lying!” Ariel exclaimed.

“He’s made her dangerous. Willing to do anything,” Sky continued and slowly, everyone but Dee Dee and Jethro seemed to agree.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Ariel snapped.

“Only telling the truth,” Sky sighed. “You would risk anything or anybody for him.”

“You’re scaring them. You’re turning them against me,” Ariel insisted.

“You think yourself above them,” Sky remarked. “You think you’re love for him is more important than them.”

“You’re connected to the Doctor’s mind, you know that’s a lie,” Ariel breathed.

“And you’d kill just to keep him by your side,” Sky continued.

“Stop it!” Ariel snapped.

“In fact, if anybody should be thrown out, it’s you,” Sky hummed. 

There was an audible shift in tone. Ariel turned around and Professor Hobbes, Val, and Biff were all staring at her with daggers in their eyes.

“Oh, you’re kidding me,” Ariel sighed. 

“Throw her out,” Biff said.

“I want her out of here,” Val snapped.

“Yeah, we should throw her out,” Biff nodded.

“Don't just talk about it, just,” Val sneered. “You're useless. Do something,” she insisted.

“I will,” Biff nodded. “You watch me. I’ll throw them both out.”

“Now, hold on,” Ariel breathed, backing away slowly. “It’s not me you’re after, she just convinced you of that.”

“That’s what you’d like us to think, wouldn’t you?” Biff prompted. “We’re all so stupid and you and your Doctor worked it out.”

“But they knew,” the hostess frowned. “They were right.”

Biff grabbed Ariel’s arms and yanked her away.

“No!” Ariel screamed. “No! Let me go!”

“Professor, help me,” Biff said. “Grab him.”

Ariel started kicking and trying to pull her arms out of Biff’s grasp. “Jethro, don’t just stand there, help grab her legs.”

“Jethro, don’t!” Ariel shrieked.

“They can go as they wanted,” Biff nodded. “They can die together.”

Jethro grabbed her legs and Ariel fought violently in her arms. “You can’t do this! You’re gonna kill both of us and we have nothing to do with her! The Doctor is fighting against her! Oh, would you just listen?!”

“We’ve done enough listening,” Val hummed. “Throw them out!”

“Cast them out,” Sky smiled.

“Cast them out,” the Doctor repeated, watching Ariel with wide eyes. There was no greater pain than watching the person you loved fight desperately against being killed and being unable to help her.

“Doctor, fight back!” Ariel screamed. “Plant something in her mind. Show them you’re still fighting back. Let me fucking go!” She roared.

The Doctor did as she said. He felt a burning in his chest as he willed parts of his mind to find their way into the creature’s. Something for the creature to say that would tell them it was him.

“You can do it,” Sky smiled, nodding them along.

“You can do it,” the Doctor repeated.

All of a sudden, Sky felt something strange in her mind. She took a deep breath and willed herself not to let it show as she had done before when the Doctor flooded her with emotions. However, her next few words told Ariel and the hostess all they needed to know.

“Molto bene!” Sky exclaimed.

“Throw them out!” Val yelled.

“Molto bene,” the Doctor repeated.

Ariel grinned. “That’s him!” She exclaimed. “That’s him! That’s his voice!”

“Fantastico,” Sky hummed, ignoring Ariel.

“Oh, my Doctor, thank you,” Ariel smiled. Ariel took a deep breath and bent her knees.

Jethro noticed and before he could say anything, her feet where in his chest, pushing him backwards and throwing him onto the ground.

“Look what she just did!” Val yelled. “Get her out of here!”

Ariel kicked backwards, kicking Biff off her and making herself land on her face as she fell. 

“That’s his voice,” the hostess gasped. “She’s taken his voice,” she nodded to Dee Dee who was covering her ears to block out the attempted murder.

“What are you doing?! Don’t just sit there!  Get her out!” Val hollered.

“No!” Ariel cried, fighting desperately against Biff as he tried to grab her once again.

“The Midnight sky awaits,” Sky nodded.

“The Midnight sky awaits,” the Doctor repeated.

“It’s her,” the hostess breathed. “Ariel was right, it’s her. She has his voice!” The hostess yelled, but nobody seemed to care. 

The hostess took a deep breath and grabbed Sky. Sky’s eyes widened as she was pulled to the door and the hostess pressed the button letting the blinding light it.

Biff dropped Ariel as he covered his eyes and Ariel fell to the ground and immediately ran to the Doctor. While the Professor was temporarily blinded, she pulled the screaming Doctor out of his arms.

With the way that group thought, she wasn’t sure what they would do to him.

The hostess counted to six and then she and Sky went falling out of the bus just before the door closed again and sealed them out forever.

The Doctor collapsed into Ariel’s arms and she let out a heavy sigh of relief, tears of joy beginning to fill her eyes as the Doctor gasped for air.

“It’s alright,” Ariel breathed, a soft smile beginning to appear on her lips. “It’s alright, you’re back now.”

The Doctor let out a deep breath. “It’s gone?”

“It’s gone,” Ariel nodded, grinning at him and nodding.

The Doctor sighed softly as they collapsed onto the floor, side by side. “It's gone. It's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone, it's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone.”

Ariel nodded once again, sniffling as tears of happiness began to stream down her cheeks. She clung to the Doctor tightly and kissed him roughly, pressing in all the fear and terror she had felt over the past hour as well as how grateful she was that he was back.

The Doctor pulled away and smiled, still breathing heavily. “Thank you,” he sighed.

“It was all you,” Ariel shook her head. “As always,” she grinned.

Val looked at the couple cautiously and leant forward. “I thought it was her.”

They both looked up with the dirtiest glares they each had ever worn.

“Don’t,” Ariel said simply.

The Doctor and Ariel remained wrapped up in each other’s arms for the next twenty minutes before the rescue truck came while the rest of the bus remained silent.

Eventually, the Doctor would press a kiss to Ariel’s head or pull her closer. As much as she denied it, Ariel had saved his life. 

She had been the one to have doubt and try to do something about it. She was the one who convinced the hostess that something was wrong. She was the one who never stopped fighting no matter how often that creature tried to deter her. Sure, he had given her signs that he was alive and maybe she could see that as him ensuring she didn’t consider him lost, but without her he would’ve been dead.

In the end, the hostess had thrown Sky out and saved the world, but as far as the Doctor was concerned, Ariel had saved him. 

However, the Doctor still had to deal with another life. Another loss. He had to learn to cope with that. It was always rough when someone sacrificed it all while you could quite literally do nothing.

Jethro walked up and tried to apologize to Ariel but she just shot a glare up at him.

“Unless you want to apologize for everything and to the Doctor, I’d suggest you leave,” Ariel advised.

Jethro took a deep breath and walked away.

“Repeat. Crusader Fifty rescue vehicle coming alongside in three minutes. Door seals set to automatic. Prepare for boarding. Repeat. Prepare for boarding,” a voice over the intercoms said.

The Doctor took a deep breath and knew that he was going to have to tell the rescue truck the names of the dead, but he couldn’t remember the hostess’s name.

“The hostess,” the Doctor sighed. “What was her name?”

There was sheer silence across the room as everyone collectively realized that woman had died to protect them and they never actually learned her name.

Ariel felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew the regret of that small action would cling to her for a while. That woman had died and she never actually decided it was worth it to learn her name. The hostess knew everybody on board, but nobody knew who she was.

“I don’t know,” Professor Hobbes realized with wide eyes.

The Doctor let out a soft sigh and pulled Ariel closer to her chest. 

~~~

The Doctor and Ariel trudged back into the spa, hand in hand as Donna stood silently waiting for them.

Ariel sighed softly. She didn’t realize how much she’d miss Donna’s face until it was her only encouragement in adventures with the Doctor.

She would’ve done anything just to see that redhead smile at her when the Doctor was gazing right through her. 

Donna walked up to them and wrapped the pair in a group hug.

The Doctor and Ariel both sighed into the hug and returned the gesture firmly, clinging to her as though she were their last grip on reality.

She walked them over to the table and they told her everything. Ariel spoke for the Doctor in moments when she saw him shaking and visibly anxious. She knew he had a much worse go of it than she had and whenever she spotted his hand shaking, she would hold it tight and he would smile softly at her.

After they had finished their story, Donna sat back with a sigh.

“What do you think it was?”  Donna wondered.

“No idea,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Don’t think I want to know if I’m honest,” Ariel mumbled. “It’s just the things, that it could do,” she shook her head. “I don’t even wanna try and learn more about something like that.”

“Do you think it’s still out there?” Donna asked.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look. It was almost certain there were more out there. Especially, on Midnight.

Donna read their expressions almost automatically. “Well you’d better tell them,” she nodded to the Leisure Palace. “This lot.”

Ariel gulped harshly and nodded, resting her head on the Doctor’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed. “They can build a Leisure Palace somewhere else. Let this planet keep on turning round an Xtonic star, in silence.”

Ariel stared down at the table with wide eyes. She couldn’t seem to get everything Sky had said out of her head. It was almost mind numbing. Her mind just kept spitting out memories of that creature inside of her.

“Can’t imagine you without a voice,” Donna frowned.

“Molto bene,” the Doctor smirked.

Ariel shot up in her seat and placed a finger to his lips and shook her head firmly. “Don’t,” she requested. “Please, don’t.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her head back onto his shoulder as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Donna frowned at the pair. She wasn’t sure what would be able to do that to them. The two strongest people she knew were reduced to nothing more that two shaking children, clinging to each other to stop the nightmares.

~~~

That night, the Doctor roamed the corridors, unable to sleep. He made a mug of hot chocolate as he remembered Ariel doing and just walked aimlessly around.

He wasn’t sure where he was going or where the Tardis was taking him, but he was only half paying attention.

The hot chocolate had done well soothing his nerves and calming the anxious jumping of his hearts keeping him awake. 

Just then, a loud scream pierced the air and the Doctor nearly dropped his hot chocolate at the sound of it.

He bolted towards the sound and found it was coming from none other than Ariel’s room. He was hit with another loud scream as he placed his cup on the table by her door and ran to her side as she flipped around in the bed wildly, sweat pouring from her skin as she was stuck in her dream.

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her and pulled the heavy sheets away from her so she could get some air. He rubbed her back soothingly and tried to coerce her out of the dream.

When she woke up, she took shallow breaths before immediately beginning to cry. The Doctor whispered soothing words in her ears as she gripped tightly onto his shirt and cried into his shoulder.

He pulled her into a hug and continued to rub her back and whisper words of comfort into her ear to calm her down.

While travelling with the Doctor is fun, if you come on board with baggage, there can wind up being far more difficulties at hand.

It wasn’t exactly easy for Ariel to cope most of the time. She was learning how to tuck it all away so nobody worries about her, but slowly, and in that time she seemed to have more stress weighing her down than anything.

She didn’t want people to grow concerned about her and start treating her like a child even though she was the youngest on board, but the stress of putting all your distressing emotions away was slowly eating her alive.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've wanted to write a scene with an OC being comforted from nightmares for such a long time but it never actually worked out in the plot so I'm so happy it finally worked out here. Also, sorry this is a short chapter. I just needed to finish the episode.


	31. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really short, but guess who gets to confess her sins?

_ She was just a little girl when it happened. _

_ The bright lights.  _

_ The loud horns. _

_ Just a little girl when she heard her father’s frantic screams. _

_ The sirens blaring in her ears. _

_ They said she was lucky. She had gotten minimal damage compared to what could’ve been. A broken arm, fractured kneecap and three shattered ribs. _

_ Her father had been paralyzed from the neck down. He had gotten the full blow of it. _

_ She still remembered the echoing sound of her mother’s heels across the hospital tile as she raced into her daughter’s room. She remembered the makeup smudged underneath her eyes as she cried over her injured child. _

_ Ariel wasn’t able to process all of it then. Nobody really explained it all to her. She heard the doctors telling her mother everything and never actually talking to the patient. _

_ The nurses only told her she was lucky compared to her father. _

_ Nobody told her if her father was alive for three days. _

_ They claimed it was because they didn’t want to stress her out, but she grew more anxious with not knowing. _

_ After a week, they finally allowed her to see him. _

_ She walked in and watched her father with wide eyes. Nobody was there to hold her hand, nobody was there by her side to reassure the mere child that it would be okay as she watched her father in the state he would be stuck in for the rest of his life. _

_ Eventually, Matthew Parsons noticed his little girl standing anxiously by the door and grimaced as he tried to smile at her. _

_ “Come on, sweetheart,” Matthew muttered, groaning in pain as he spoke. He had rarely spoken for the past week. His wife had mostly just held his hand and sobbed whenever she paid a visit. “It’s alright.” _

_ Ariel walked towards him awkwardly with her crutches and took the seat beside his bed his mother had often inhabited. _

_ She placed her crutches by her chair and frowned at her father. “Is this because I distracted you when I asked if we could go to Bill’s Kensington Restaurant?” Ariel asked, staring at her father with wide, innocent eyes. _

_ Matthew chuckled and winced at the feeling. “No, sweetheart. The man in that truck was drunk. He was driving while drinking the one thing mummy and daddy tell you to never touch.” _

_ “Why would he do that?” Ariel wondered. _

_ “Who knows why people do anything, love? You can only ever hope for the best in people and if they prove themselves to be bad people, you have to find it in yourself to be better than them,” Matthew nodded. He wanted to instill these lessons in his daughter before he carried out what he had in mind. He had to make sure she learned something from him beforehand. _

_ “But what if you can’t be better than them? They said they arrested that man. They said he had a family,” Ariel told him. _

_ “Then you must make sure those people can never hurt you again,” Matthew winced. He was feeling weaker each second. He was tired of fighting. He had fought to stay alive after the impact of that truck. He had fought to stay alive when they operated, and now they told him he would never be able to move again.  _

_ He looked up at his daughter with a sigh. She was still so young, she still had so much left to experience. Her first love. Her first kiss. Her first heartbreak. Graduating school. Her first job. University. The moment when she finds the one person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. It broke his heart that he was going to miss all off it.  _

_ “Are you in pain?” Ariel frowned. “Do you need the medication?” Ariel asked. _

_ Matthew looked up at the little girl with wide eyes. He didn’t want her to see that. He really didn’t, but it seemed he had no choice. _

_ “Er, yes, dear,” Matthew sighed. “Can you please grab that medicine bottle on the table for me? The one with the straw already in it? The nurses had been giving it to me,” he said. _

_ Ariel nodded, smiling quickly at her father as she grabbed the medicine bottle and placed it on his chest so his arm could already hold it. _

_ He craned his neck and began drinking it like it was water. Ariel frowned.  _

_ “Daddy, I don’t think you’re supposed to have that much,” Ariel muttered. Her father ignored her and continued drinking. At this rate he was swallowing almost a whole bottle of medicine. “Daddy, stop!” Ariel cried. She tried to jump up to stop him, but a blinding flash of pain in her knee sent her falling to the floor and clutching it desperately. _

_ Ariel heard his vitals spike then rapidly decrease. The nurses started racing into the room and Ariel crawled under the bed stirling her tears as she grabbed the medicine bottle and pulled it out of sight. _

_ She covered her mouth with wide eyes as silent tears began to stream down her cheeks.  _

_ What had she just done? _

_ ~~~ _

_ Ariel told her mother as soon as possible. She told her everything. She told her how it was her fault. Her father was dead because of her. She had killed him. _

_ Her mother listened to the entire story with wide eyes and when it finished, she leant back and sighed softly. Carol took a deep breath and tried to process everything her daughter had told her.  _

_ She knew the young girl had no reason to lie. She wouldn’t even know to lie about that as her mother had just told her the news about her father. _

_ Carol knew immediately nobody could know that Ariel handed her father the medicine. She knew that nobody could hear about that. Not a single soul. _

_ Carol told her daughter the exact same fact and Ariel understood immediately. _

_ The young girl had already learned too much about life and death. She had seen far too much for just a kid. _

_ At just eleven years old, Ariel Parsons had begun to understand more about life and death than most humans understood in their seventies. She knew more about the universe than any other child would ever understand. _

_ ~~~ _

After two months of repetitive phone calls to her mother, the Doctor taking the women on trips Ariel herself had chosen; such as meeting some Cobalite Pandas (who did  _ not _ enjoy Donna and Ariel petting them and calling them cute and resulted in them having to run back to the Tardis as an army of Cobalite Pandas tried to attack them with bows and arrows), an encounter with William Shakespeare who flirted shamelessly with all three of them, and to the French Riviera in the 1780’s where a series of events nearly resulted in Donna almost marrying Rudolph of Goritania and them battling a skeleton army.

Needless to say, it was a strange two months for the trio. They landed on the planet Shan Shen after Ariel expressed a strong craving for Chinese food and the Doctor, endlessly trying to make her happy, brought them to the planet.

They walked out, laughing and in a happy daze. The Doctor wrapped an arm around her and she sighed as she looked around.

“Y’know, just because a girl is craving Chinese food doesn’t mean you have to take her to a whole planet that adheres to Chinese culture. That would be like saying I’m having a craving and taking a flight to,” Ariel hesitated as she realized how lamely that sentence was going to end. “It would be like taking a flight to China,” she sighed.

“Oh, but this is brilliant!” The Doctor insisted, grinning up at the Chinese flags. “D’you know, I had a friend, the Monk he was called. He tried to exile me here? This time zone actually,” he frowned. “He had originally planned to trap me in the formation of the Earth, but I escaped,” he smirked.

“Hold on, did I just hear you say that a monk tried to trap you in the formation of the Earth?” Donna frowned.

“Well, when you put it that way,” the Doctor hummed.

Ariel and Donna exchanged a dazed grin and shrug. The stories the Doctor told them were maddening if you thought about them for too long.

“Oh, here’s you’re Chinese food!” He exclaimed, running up to a dish of Yi Mein being held out.

Ariel giggled and walked up to the stand to try some. She wound up filling her mouth and stared at the Doctor with wide eyes and a large grin. “Oh, that’s marvellous!” She exclaimed with her mouth stuffed with noodles.

“See?” The Doctor smirked. “Nothing like getting food in the fifty-first century,” he sighed.

Ariel nodded to the woman behind the stand and got a full plate of the Yi Mein to carry as she walked with the Doctor.

“By this time people had centuries to perfect these recipes because sure, you lot have got it pretty good in the twenty-first century, but somethings are just so much better with spices that haven’t been invented yet,” the Doctor sighed. “Then again there are somethings that are better before you lot ruined it.”

Ariel half listened to him, disregarding the jab at the century in which she lived in and continuing to eat her Yi Mein. The Doctor looked down at her lack of response. Usually she at least said a couple of words to acknowledge she was listening to what he was saying, but she just had a mouthful of Yi Mein. The Doctor laughed and tried to steal some only to be elbowed in the ribcage.

“Oi! Get your own!” Ariel snapped.

The Doctor laughed once again and spotted Donna walked between a couple stands, walking around aimlessly.

“Oi, I think I see some drinks you might like,” the Doctor told Ariel.

She nodded and quickly finished off her Yi Mein before running to the Doctor’s side.

The Doctor tapped Donna’s shoulder and handed each of them a foaming drink from the stand to their left.

“Oh, ho, ho,” the Doctor laughed as he passed out the drinks.

Donna held up a hand and shook her head at the Doctor while Ariel sipped it happily.

“I’d rather have a water,” Donna shrugged.

“Oh, Donna, this is too good to pass up,” Ariel sighed.

“You are going to love it,” the Doctor nodded.

Donna sighed, but eventually obliged and they all did a cheers despite Ariel having already sipped from her cup. “One, two three!” The Doctor exclaimed and they all took a sip.

Donna grinned at the pair and they beamed at her.

“And?” Ariel prompted.

“Lovely!” Donna laughed.

“We told you,” Ariel nodded, giggling at her.

They marched forward and the Doctor quickly got distracted, pulling Ariel to the side as he ran towards a stand.

Donna carried on walking, looking through the various stands while the Doctor started pulling out fruits he wanted.

“Doctor, we can’t afford all that,” Ariel laughed. “Doctor!” She exclaimed.

“Ah, it’s alright,” the Doctor sighed. 

“Doctor, you paid for the Yi Mein and drinks, we can’t afford all that fruit on top of it!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Hold on,” the Doctor nodded, holding up a finger and turning to the man behind the stand. “My good man,” he said.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel sighed.

“How much do we have left?” The Doctor asked.

“Twelve credits,” Ariel said, raising an eyebrow and genuinely curious as to how he could haggle fifteen different fruits for twelve credits.

“Got it,” the Doctor nodded. “My good man, I’m sure you’d be willing to give us this food for twelve credits seeing as that’s all we have and we have a very good reason why you should give it to us which my girlfriend here will explain.”

“That is cheating!” Ariel exclaimed, slapping him playfully on the chest as he laughed. She turned to the man who raised a curious eyebrow at her. “Erm, so we don’t really have jobs and I sort of ate our money and we need this food because my boyfriend here and our other extremely close friend who is also out of work needs to eat.”

“No, twenty credits,” the man shook his head.

“Twenty credits?!” Ariel cried. “This coconut has sticks coming out of it!” She snapped, holding up the coconut the Doctor had been inspecting and the Doctor broke down laughing as the man didn’t seem very amused and raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Ariel. “Oh, fine give me the silent treatment. Forget the coconut,” she said, tossing it to the side and effectively cracking it open.

The vendor crossed his arms. The Doctor couldn’t stop laughing.

“I’m not paying twenty credits for that,” Ariel said. “Stop laughing, Doctor,” she said in a completely stern voice making the Doctor laugh harder.

“You know what, this is obviously getting nowhere so I should probably just go before you call some law enforcement,” Ariel shrugged, running off and spinning when she found the Doctor wasn’t following. “Doctor! Leave the coconuts!”

The Doctor pouted but followed her and she spun around in confusion when she didn’t see Donna.

“Er, where’s Donna?” Ariel frowned. “Did you lose Donna again?”

“No, she went into some fortune teller,” the Doctor shrugged, sipping his frothy drink and snacking on a bit of food they were able to afford.

“Well, how longs she gonna be, cause I was wanting to go to get some drinks tonight,” Ariel sighed.

“Oh, we can do that now,” the Doctor shrugged. 

“How do you mean? We can’t just leave her here,” Ariel frowned.

“Sure we can, I’ve done it loads of times with you. It is a time machine after all,” the Doctor chuckled.

“I’m sorry, you what?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“I probably shouldn’t have mentioned that bit,” the Doctor winced.

“Probably!” Ariel cried. “When was it, anyway?”

“Future Hollywood when you were talking to that alien actor, you know the humanoid one?”

“Oh, yeah,” Ariel smiled. “He was a model too,” she nodded.

“Great, thanks,” the Doctor nodded and Ariel laughed.

“But he’s no better than you!” Ariel insisted. She turned to where she had last seen Donna and frowned. “Still, I’d feel better if we left her some sort of note,” she shrugged.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the fortune teller’s room and nodded. “Alright, hold on a minute.” He went to one of the people at the stands and talked for a few minutes before returning back to Ariel with a grin. “If Donna leaves before we return, that man over there is gonna tell her we’ll be right back.”

“Brilliant,” Ariel smiled.

“Shall we?” The Doctor prompted, holding out his arm to her

“We shall,” Ariel giggled, taking the Doctor’s arm and allowing him to guide her back to the Tardis.

They headed for a bar the Doctor said was one of his favorites called the Zaggit Zagoo Bar.

Ariel laughing, spinning around in a daze as she looked around at all the various different alien species inhabiting the bar.

“This is brilliant!” Ariel exclaimed. 

The Doctor grinned at her. “I knew you’d like it,” he hummed. 

“Like it?” Ariel smirked. “This place is incredible. It’s like a social hub for all species, it’s wonderful.”

The Doctor chuckled and wrapped an arm around her. “Well, what do you say we take our seats?”

“Have you really been here before?” Ariel frowned.

“Oh, loads of times,” the Doctor nodded.

“And you just failed to mention to Donna that there was an actual planet Zog and one of your favorite pubs is on it?” Ariel prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, but it’s more fun this way,” the Doctor chuckled.

Ariel laughed and shook her head as she took a seat beside him. He told her which drinks were safe for human consumption and she ordered a drink while he just ordered a water.

“Do you ever drink alcohol?”  Ariel frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you have any.”

“Never,” the Doctor shook his head. “Can’t stand the taste of it. Wine especially,” he nodded.

“Funny, you and my Mum are polar opposites,” Ariel smirked. “She  _ loves _ wine. A bit too much, I worry sometimes,” she sighed. “But still I don’t mind it, I just don’t like drinks that have a lot of it.”

“Then it feels spoiled. It feels like it’s just there to get you knackered,” the Doctor nodded.

“Exactly!” Ariel exclaimed. “It feels like those candies that you can see way too much sugar on. It’s like you can’t actually taste it, but you taste the sugar,” she said with a soft sigh.

The Doctor chuckled and nodded and as Ariel looked up at him, she felt a strong twisting in her gut.

It wasn’t an emotion she could put a name to, but she knew what it meant. 

Her heart plummeted into her stomach.

It was time. 

It was time for the Doctor to learn the truth about her.

Ariel felt her heart racing in her chest. More than anything, she could use a drink that was pure alcohol. She needed the liquid courage. 

She wished she could just run away and never face the man she loved looking at her like a monster.

Her hands began to shake and lower lip trembled. She felt like she was about to proclaim her deepest secrets to an audience of millions, but if she was honest, an audience of strangers would’ve been preferable to the one person in the world she would kill for.

She would’ve given anything for him never to let the Doctor hear the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

The Doctor noticed her distress and looked at her with a small frown. Ariel was basically trembling in her seat, wrapping her arms around her body and seeking the only comfort she had known for years before the Doctor had walked into her life and treated her with the one emotion she had locked away since she dated Ross.

He treated her with love.

She would rather die than allow him to hear that she was not the angel he had always looked at her as.

Ariel’s mind kept reminding her that her future was safe. It kept pushing back the memories of River telling her that she did travel with the Doctor in the future, but she couldn’t push away the look she knew was going to be on the Doctor’s face. 

It was the same look on her mother’s face when, at just eleven, Ariel had confessed what she had done. It was the same look on Ross’s face when he stared up at hehr after they found that body in the street.

Eventually, the look always faded. It was replaced with pity, or sympathy. It was a look she had been faced with all too often. 

The memory of that look plastered across the faces of the people she loved most was burned into her memory and the Doctor was about to join that bunch.

She thought she might throw up. 

In fact, she’d rather do that. She’d rather vomit in the middle of the pub rather than tell the Doctor.

She thought she might pass out.

“Is everything alright,” the Doctor asked, putting his water down and holding Ariel’s shoulder as he stared down at her, his brown eyes flickering with concern.

Ariel almost wanted to scream at him to never look at her like that. To never touch her like she was some fragile thing because after she told him her darkest secrets.

Stories of the two times she had taken lives.

He would hate the flesh that had touched her skin.

This was why she never wanted them to go any further before she had told him. If he still wanted to be with her after he heard, she would be astounded, but she couldn’t bare the thought of him regretting being with someone who had taken life when he still hates himself for the lives he took.

He considers himself a monster. What would he think of the girl he had thought to be a loving angel telling him she had learned to cope with the lives she had taken?

Ariel gulped harshly and took a deep breath, summoning every courageous bone in her body. She couldn’t postpone this any longer and leave him looking at her with those amber eyes still filled with so much love. She had to tell him.

Ariel looked into his eyes, committing to memory the very moment the concern had flickered from them and was replaced with confusion and anger.

“Doctor,” Ariel sighed. “Remember the oracles saying one day I would tell you two of my darkest secrets? Secrets that only my mother knows both of?” She prompted.

The Doctor nodded, confusion falling upon the beautiful face Ariel had felt so much love for.

“Well,” Ariel sighed. “It’s time,” she nodded. “It’s time for you to hear my secrets,” she said and the Doctor’s eyes widened.

Ariel took one last deep breath, clenching her hands tightly to keep them from shaking, but she held onto them so tightly, she risked drawing blood with her fingernails. She never heard the Doctor’s sharp gasps or sighs as she told him who she was.

As she put every inch of her personality on display for him to see.

All she could hear was the sound of her heart pounding in her ears loudly as she spoke. 

She told him everything, every emotion that flashed through her body. Every little thought that had crossed her mind afterwards.

He knew everything about her.

She spoke quickly. Once she had started speaking it felt like she couldn’t stop, she just carried on rambling to him and telling him everything, practically shoving the words out of her mouth as she spoke.

When she finished, she looked up to find his face tortuously stoic.

Ariel’s heart sank. “Doctor, I regretted all of it. I’m so, so sorry,” she breathed. “I don’t know how else to show how guilty I feel over all of it.”

Instead of saying anything, his face remained entirely blank as he stood up.

Ariel grabbed his coat, staring at him with teary, desperate eyes silently begging him not to do what she thought he was planning on.

“Doctor, please. I’m sorry,” Ariel muttered.

The Doctor took a deep breath and walked away from her.

“Doctor!” Ariel cried, tears falling down her cheeks as she stood up and watched him walk back into the Tardis.

“Doctor, don’t you dare! Doctor!” Ariel screamed. "Please, Doctor!"

The Tardis wheezed out of existence and Ariel was left alone in an alien bar on an alien planet with tears streaming down her face and nobody to comfort her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, if anyone thinks 'well, the Doctor would never abandon her like that', just think about it from an emotionally point (which is basically what he's thinking with right now- his emotions), he just found out that the love of his life, the woman he thought could do no wrong and was much better than he ever could be had participated in not one but two murders and he fell in love with her with a totally skewed perspective of how she was raised. He's angry and scared and leaves her there because he needs time to process what she had told him. It's a lot to take in.


	32. Captain Jack Harkness

Ariel sobbed by herself for what felt like hours. She was never certain how the Doctor was going to react, but she never thought he would leave her on her own.

She had never thought it was possible to face the kind of devastation losing the Doctor had brought on. He had been so perfect and her past had torn it to pieces.

Ariel hugged her knees to her chest, desperately trying to comfort herself through the pain that came in waves. It was unbearable, like nothing she had ever felt before. 

Just as she began to come down from the crashing pain tearing through her body, a new wave came and knocked her mind off the balance it tried so hard to regain.

As if it were a cruel joke from the universe, a suave man in a navy blue army coat slid into the booth across from her. He had a kind face and dark hair, eyes that said he was genuinely a good man and had dealt with his fair share of pain, but Ariel didn’t care. She didn’t want to speak to anyone.

“If you’re here to drop some cheap line, I’m not interested,” Ariel sniffled, barely even looking up at the man.

“Quite the opposite actually,” the man frowned, his American accent peeking through as he narrowed his eyes at Ariel. “I’m here to make sure you’re okay.”

Ariel laughed humorlessly at him. “I’m sitting alone in a booth in a pub on an alien planet, crying my eyes out, what do you think?”

The man sighed softly. “Then, I’ll just offer some comfort. What was his or her name?” He asked.

Ariel looked up at the man with a frown. He had looks fit for a model. He could’ve been by the side of any person in that pub, why did he bother with her? None of the other patrons seemed to pay any mind toward the sobbing girl. Why would he?

“Who are you?” Ariel breathed, shaking her head curiously at him.

The man smirked, the telltale signs of someone preparing to drop a cheesy line, but rather than flirt, he just stuck his hand out and introduced himself. “Captain Jack Harkness, who might you be?” It was the only line a man with looks as good as his ever needed.

Ariel’s eyes widened and her heart momentarily stopped beating. “Captain Jack Harkness?” She repeated with a raised eyebrow. 

Maybe, the universe was looking out for her.

“One and only,” Jack nodded. “Though you still haven’t answered my question,” he frowned.

“I’m with the Doctor,” Ariel breathed, hoping those four words still held an effect on the man.

It was clear they did when he retracted his hand and his face fell.

“Prove it,” Jack prompted. All too often he encountered people who wanted nothing more than to use him to get to the Doctor or to simply kill both of them. It was nothing personal against the girl, he just needed more than her word.

“He’s a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He can change his face when he’s near death. It’s called regeneration,” Ariel tried but Jack just raised an eyebrow at her and Ariel sighed, raking her fingers through her hair.

She needed to give him more.

“The Doctor told me that you’re a Time Agent and started traveling with him right after he left the Time War. You were originally a con man but when he saved your life, you stayed with him. You and Rose Tyler, the woman he was traveling with as well at that time, danced together and she encouraged him to take up dancing once again. You died when a Dalek shot you but when Rose turned into Bad Wolf, she committed genocide and brought you back to life eternally. Now, you run Torchwood on Earth and the Doctor was furious about that because Torchwood stands for all the wrong things and Rose Tyler was sent to a parallel world with her family while in Torchwood in the Battle of Canary Wharf. He traveled with Martha Jones just before me and she fancied him and left because not only did she need to take care of her family after they remembered The Year That Never Was, but she fancied him and he couldn’t return those emotions,” Ariel rambled and Jack stared at her with wide eyes. “He also told me you kissed him. Multiple times.”

“But if you’re traveling with the Doctor, why would he leave you alone here crying?” Jack wondered.

Ariel sighed softly. “We were together, and before you say anything about him being with Rose, I already know. It took him a while before he even decided to be with me and I kind of started that. Not him. I thought he was about to die and I didn’t want him to die without knowing how I felt.”

Jack nodded. “Alright, I get that bit. But the Doctor would never leave you on your own when you’re crying.”

“I told him some things,” Ariel sighed. “Stuff that I wish I never had to tell him, but it was kind of prophesied to us.”

“What stuff?” Jack frowned.

Ariel sighed softly, knowing there was no point in hiding it. Not anymore. Not when the one person she had wanted to accept her for her secrets had left her on her own. She felt numb at the thought of telling Jack then, so she decided there was no point in keeping her horrible secrets secret any longer.

“When I was eleven, my father was paralyzed from a car accident and asked me to help in his suicide and I didn’t know what I was doing so I did it. I realized afterwards that I had just killed my father and my Mum wouldn’t let me tell anyone. When I got older, I distracted my boyfriend while he was driving and he wound up hitting and killing a man with a family,” Ariel said. “I told him all that after he had spent so long thinking I was a good person,” she mumbled, her lower lip trembling as tears began to form in her eyes once again.

“Hey,” Jack sighed. He bolted over to her side and wrapped an arm around her. “It’s not your fault.”

“But it is,” Ariel muttered. “All my life people have been trying to convince me that the deaths weren’t my fault, but they were, and now the one person in the universe I never wanted to think that does,” she sobbed.

“If I know anything about the Doctor, it’s that he believes more than anyone that the past doesn’t make you who you are. It’s what you do with it, and I’m willing to bet if the Doctor loved you then you made something good out of it.”

“But not good enough,” Ariel breathed. “He probably hates me.”

“The Doctor wouldn’t hate you. He’s probably just freaked out,” Jack shrugged. “Give him some time.”

“How much time can I give him?” Ariel wondered. “I’m stranded on an alien planet with no way home,” she sighed. 

Jack frowned down at her and peered at his Vortex Manipulator. Ever since the Doctor had improved it, it might just be able to carry the pair of them back to Earth, but it was a stretch.

“What year do you live in?” Jack asked.

“Two thousand and eight,” Ariel frowned. “Why?” 

Jack lifted up his Vortex Manipulator and tapped it. “This is why. If I do this right, I might be able to get us both back safe and sound but it would’ve been risky if you were in a different time period.”

“So, you live in the same time period too?” Ariel prompted. “Two thousand and eight?”

“With a bit of travel here and there to keep it from getting boring,” Jack shrugged, grinning down at her.

Ariel smiled quickly before narrowing her eyes at the Vortex Manipulator. “How does that work because in order to get back home, we’d have to go through the Time Vortex, and it seems pretty small to take both of us through.”

“Oh, I can see why the Doctor liked you,” Jack hummed. The Doctor had always hated his Vortex Manipulator. “It can take us,” he nodded. “But I think it’s best if we just keep you at Torchwood until the Doctor comes. It’ll be easier than staying here on a different planet and you can always go home if you need to. We can send a signal up to the Doctor’s Tardis and let him know where you are,” Jack assured her.

“That sounds fair,” Ariel sighed with a small shrug.

“There are a couple things you should know about Torchwood, though,” Jack nodded.

“What, something that can surprise me after traveling with the Doctor?” Ariel scoffed.

“More like a fun fact,” Jack shrugged. “Torchwood draws power from the Rift in Cardiff.”

“Oh, I had a nan in Cardiff!” Ariel smiled.

“Beside that,” Jack nodded. “Did you ever hear about the Rift with the Doctor?”

“No,” Ariel shook her head.

“Okay, it’s how the Doctor charges his Tardis. When the Rift becomes active, beings and objects can be transported through Rift flares either from one end of the Rift to another, or to another point in time on the same end of the Rift. Rift storms are also capable of transporting objects and beings caught up inside of them through the Rift. The Rift can also cause time shifts. We not only get power from it, we maintain it. We make sure that anything that has to do with it is contained and doesn’t pose a threat. Y’know, low scale stuff while the Doctor is away,” Jack explained with a nod.

“Huh,” Ariel frowned. “I never thought there could be divisions of people monitoring alien stuff on Earth. I always just thought it was the Doctor and Unit.”

Jack smirked. “Nope,” he sighed. “There’s so much more,” he said. He held out his wrist to her. “Now, are you ready to go?”

Ariel took a deep breath, placing her hand on the side of the Vortex Manipulator. She nodded and Jack smiled before quickly typing in the coordinates and sending them on their way.

~~~

They arrived in Cardiff and Ariel knelt forward, gasping with wide eyes as she fought to catch her breath.

“Oh, right, I forgot to mention first time travellers can get a bit of motion sickness,” Jack winced, genuinely feeling bad about neglecting that fact.

Ariel shot him a glare and Jack laughed.

“You look just like the Doctor when he’s angry,” Jack remarked. “Come on,” he sighed, wrapping an arm around her. “Let’s take the quick entrance,” he said.

Ariel frowned but complied and followed him onto a small platform. When the crowd surrounding them cleared, there was a quick shift and Ariel’s eyes widened as she looked down.

“Is this a gravity platform?” Ariel asked. 

“You’ve been on one before?” Jack prompted.

“Yeah, in the planet The Library. They had one going down into the data core,” Ariel nodded. “Granted, around that time the planet was about to implode so I didn’t exactly focus on the ride,” she sighed.

Jack chuckled. “Yep, that sounds like the Doctor,” he nodded.

When they landed, Ariel stared at the open space with wide eyes. It was rustic and ancient and beautiful. It felt like an old library with modern technology. That was until she heard the pterodactyl screech overhead and saw the dinosaur soaring across the roof. 

She stared up at the creature with wonder in her eyes. “Oh, she’s beautiful,” Ariel sighed.

Jack watched her with a small frown and nodded. “Definitely one of the Doctor’s,” he muttered. If he had any suspicions before, the way she looked at their pterodactyl had only confirmed her claims for him. She didn’t bear any fear in her eyes or even the slightest shimmer of shock. She just looked at the dinosaur with pure wonder and awe in her eyes. He had seen the Doctor fall in love with that look before when it was on the face of Rose Tyler. It was easy to believe that he had fallen in love with it once again.

“Does she have a name?” Ariel asked.

“Myfanwy,” Jack nodded.

“Like the Welsh goddess,” Ariel grinned. “Oh, that’s gorgeous,” she breathed.

Jack smirked at her for a moment, lost in wonder at the woman who had managed to capture the Doctor’s hearts. She certainly was beautiful. Then again, everyone was beautiful in his eyes. He sighed softly and grabbed her hand.

“Come on,” Jack nodded. “It’s time I introduced you to the team,” he nodded.

Ariel smiled and nodded along, following him but sparing one last wistful glance at Myfanwy before running to his side. 

He walked her over to a set of computers where a man in a very formal suit, looking a bit out of place among the ruckus, poured a cup of tea. He looked like a quiet reserved man who would be like a fish out of water in a place of never ending action and thrills. 

“This is Ianto Jones,” Jack introduced, saying the name right into her ear as he stood behind her and waved her towards the man. “Ianto!” Jack called.

Ianto turned to Jack with wide eyes and it had seemed the man’s heart stopped at the sound of the American accent. Ariel smirked, she knew that look all too well. It was the way she looked at the Doctor. Ianto was in love with Jack.

Ianto walked up to them, but never seemed to notice the newcomer, his eyes fixated on Jack.

“You’re back,” Ianto breathed.

“Well, I was only gone a couple days,” Jack shrugged.

“You never said,” Ianto frowned. “You never said when you would be back.”

Jack looked down as he thought and his eyes widened as he realized he had never actually given them a time again. “I’m sorry,” Jack sighed. “I thought I had-.”

Before Jack could get out another word, Ianto pressed his lips against Jack desperately and Ariel smiled as she watched Jack kiss back with equal fervor.

When they pulled away, Jack had his arm wrapped around Ianto as he gestured to Ariel. “This is Ariel Parsons,” Jack introduced with a sigh, breathless from his kiss.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Ianto nodded, holding out his hand to Ariel. Ariel smiled and shook it politely.

“And you,” Ariel nodded.

“She’s dating the Doctor,” Jack explained. “She’s gonna stay here till he picks her up again,” he told Ianto and Ianto nodded in understanding.

“If he picks me up again,” Ariel mumbled bitterly.

“Oh, don’t start with that again,” Jack sighed. “He will come back for you, I promise. None of that stuff should matter to him,” he assured her.

“What stuff?” Ianto frowned.

“I’ll explain later,” Jack shrugged. “It’s kind of a long story.”

“What if he just decides I’m not worth it anymore? I’m not the person he thought I was, so why bother?” Ariel proposed, anxiety creeping into her mind and poisoning her thoughts.

“He would never do that, I promise you,” Jack assured her.

“But what if he did, Jack?” Ariel said, her voice innocent and childlike as she asked the fateful question. The question that determined her fate for the future. Would she see the Doctor again? Would he choose to keep her in his life?

Jack’s face fell as he realized their future was still very open and he could possibly decide to just move on. He took a deep breath and walked up to Ariel, placing his hands on each of her shoulders and looking her firmly in the eyes. 

“Then you’ll have a job here at Torchwood, I promise,” Jack nodded.

Ariel smiled softly at the confirmation that even if she lost her Doctor, her life seeing the most wonderful things in the universe would not be over. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

“Anything for the Doctor’s girlfriend,” Jack sighed with a smirk. “But carrying on, you still haven’t met the other team member. Where is she?” Jack asked Ianto.

“In the operating room,” Ianto replied.

Jack nodded and grabbed Ariel’s hand. “Come on,” he sighed. “I think you’ll get along with her,” he chuckled.

Ariel smiled at the kindness the team was showing her in the wake of her life unravelling before her eyes. It was more than she could’ve asked for. She didn’t deserve it and yet they were there by her side treating her like family, offering her a job and a place to stay after she had lost everything.

Ariel knew she would never be able to repay them and for that, she could never forgive herself.

Jack lead her down a staircase to meet a pale woman with dark hair and a bright red shirt. She looked like a friendly but outspoken woman. One of those girl friends who wouldn’t be afraid to tell you when you looked fat in a dress or your hair looked awful. She seemed loyal to the very last.

“Ariel Parsons, I’d like you to meet Gwen Cooper,” Jack introduced, gesturing towards the woman with dark hair. “Gwen Cooper, this is Ariel Parsons. She dates the Doctor. She’s gonna be staying here till he picks her up. And if he doesn’t,” he sighed, sparing a sympathetic glance at Ariel. “She’s gonna start working here.”

“Oh,” Gwen smiled. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ariel,” she said in a Welsh accent, holding out a hand to Ariel.

“Nice to meet you too,” Ariel grinned, nodding at the woman and shaking her hand.

~~~

Meanwhile, on the Tardis, Donna Noble was smacking the Doctor on the arm repeatedly.

“Ow, ow, ow! Stop hitting me!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“You wish, Spaceboy! You better tell me where the hell Ariel is right now!” Donna snapped.

“I don’t know!” The Doctor insisted. He would be afraid for Ariel if all his attention wasn’t diverted to the ginger trying to beat his arm purple and the face that the very same ginger had just delivered news of the end of the world.

He had planned to grab Donna then go back for Ariel, but when the redhead had told him the two words that would change everything, plans changed.

He decided to grab the two women and go back to Earth only to find Ariel missing from the bar he had left her in. When he asked the bartender what happened to the crying brunette, the man said she went away with a man that had a Vortex Manipulator.

That could’ve been anyone in the universe and that gave them no clues as to where they went. He didn’t even know if Ariel went willingly.

The Doctor went back into the Tardis, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he delivered the news to Donna and began scanning for Ariel on the planet. After Donna heard about her best friend possibly in danger, the Doctor was bombarded with nasty screams and vicious insults.

Just when he thought it may be endless, the Tardis screen dinged off an alert. She had tracked down Ariel.

The Doctor knelt down to the screen and read the Gallifreyan with a frown.

“What does it say?” Donna asked.

“It’s tracker down, but,” the Doctor sighed.

“What?” Donna prompted. “What is it?”

“She’s on Earth,” the Doctor muttered. “But that’s not possible. How did she get back to Earth?” 

“Well, quit talking and start flying this thing to Earth!” Donna snapped. “Didn’t you say we needed to get there anyway because of what that blonde woman said?”

“Bad Wolf, yeah,” the Doctor mumbled, still confused as to how his girlfriend got from the planet Zog in the fifty-first century to Earth in the twenty-first. The bartender mention her leaving with a man who had a Vortex Manipulator, but would she be willing to travel with someone she had just met?

“What does Bad Wolf even mean?” Donna asked. “And who was that blonde woman?”

“The end of the universe,” the Doctor sighed before pulling the lever on the console and starting up the time rotors.

~~~

In the Torchwood Hub, Ianto chuckled as he handed Ariel another slice of pizza and she took a large bite out of the one in her hands.

Jack had gone to his office to try to get a signal to the Tardis on his computer but found it was much more difficult, having trouble working his way onto the Tardis screen to simply display his message.

Something was cutting off their connection outside the planet.

Ariel, Gwen and Ianto were blissfully unaware laughing as Ariel chugged her fizzy drink and continued eating.

“I’d think you’d enjoy food like this less when you can I dunno, go and get the real thing whenever you’d like,” Gwen chuckled.

“While that’s nice,” Ariel nodded. “I grew up on this rubbish,” she smirked as she took another bite from her pizza. “Sometimes it’s nice to get the old familiar artificial stuff again. It’s the same reason you like to eat sugar when you can afford healthy food,” she shrugged.

“But you could have pizza in Italy,” Ianto insisted. “That’s got to be a bit better.”

“Not really,” Ariel shook her head. “Yeah, they don’t use tomato sauce on their pizzas and they call it by some other name and it’s really not as good. I mean, the Pope even told me he thought they needed something extra,” she shrugged.

“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I’m talking to the woman that met Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill and the bloody Pope,” Gwen scoffed. “This is maddening.”

Ariel smirked and winked up at her as she finished her drink. “Now, I was thinking that-.”

Before she could finish her sentence, a rough tumbling across the Hub sent her flying off her feet and landing face first on the ground. She covered her head as furniture flied across the room and sparks shot out of the machinery.

The room rocked roughly for several minutes and they could all do nothing but stay in place. Each time they tried to stand up or find cover they were thrown back onto the floor.

When it stopped Ariel groaned and wiped her face, rolling over and sighing as she found dirt was smudged just above her left brow. She rolled her eyes and winced as she got up, holding out her hand to help Ianto up as well.

“Whoa, what happened?” Jack breathed. “Was it the Rift? Ariel? Ianto? Gwen? You okay?” Jack asked, running out to the trio.

“We’re fine,” Ariel groaned, helping Ianto to his feet before turning to help Gwen.

“No broken bones,” Ianto shrugged. “Slight loss of dignity,” he sighed. “No change there then.”

“Whatever that was it was massive,” Ariel muttered, wiping the dirt that had gotten on her hands from the ground after her fall.

“The whole of the city must've felt that,” Gwen nodded. “The whole of South Wales.”

“There’s gotta be some damage out there,” Ariel agreed.

Jack took a deep breath and nodded in agreement, narrowing his eyes at the entrance. “I’m going to take a look outside,” he told them before running out the door.

Ariel watched as he left and Ianto walked up to one of the computer screens and turned it on. He got one of the exterior cameras to display on the screen and his eyes widened.

“Er, the pair of you might wanna see this,” Ianto said.

Gwen and Ariel exchanged a confused frown but both nodded and walked up to the screen, only to have their expressions mirror Ianto’s of pure shock.

“A little bit bigger than South wales,” Ianto shrugged.

“Just a bit yeah,” Ariel breathed sarcastically, barely even blinking as she stared at the screen.

Where the sun or moon were absent, large planets had taken their place. The planets were of various different colors and looked nothing like what should be present in their galaxy.

“We’re in trouble now,” Ariel hummed. She took a deep breath and glanced at the exit. “I’m gonna go out to Jack. I need to see these things up close,” she told the pair and they both nodded.

Ariel ran out the entrance and outside to the Roald Dahl pass. Her eyes widened as she saw how much larger the planets were in person rather than displayed on a tiny computer screen.

“That’s just impossible,” Jack gasped.

“That’s twenty-six planets,” Ariel frowned, counting each one that appeared in the sky. “Twenty-six planets that I don’t recognize.”

“Neither do I,” Jack nodded. “Come on, we should get back inside. See what authorities are saying and figure out if we can maybe get a read on whatever the hell’s going on.”

Ariel nodded, her eyes never leaving the sky as he escorted her back inside. “This is massive. This is-,” she sighed and shook her head, unable to come up with a word for whatever was happening. “We’ve been moved in space.”

“What makes you think it was us that was moved?” Jack frowned. “For all we know it could be the planets that were moved here.”

“While that’s a fair point,” Ariel nodded. “Just think about it. It was eight in the morning here and now it’s dark and we’ve got twenty-seven planets not found in our galaxy surrounding us. Even the sun’s gone,” Ariel listed. “Someone has moved the Earth and there’s no telling what they plan to do with it,” she sighed.

Jack smirked. “Oh, you are good,” he chuckled.

Ariel giggled and they ran inside to the Torchwood team.

“Right, someone has moved the Earth and we need to figure out who and why,” Jack nodded to them. “Get me on all the major news networks. If Unit or anybody else figures out who these people are, we need to hear about it,” he instructed.

“Got it,” Ianto said, turning all their computers and televisions on so they can each broadcast a different news network.

“We also need to see if we can start running scans, figure out if we can figure out the names of those planets in the sky and if any of them are behind this,” Jack instructed Gwen. “Ariel, see if you can’t look up any research on this. Experts have gotta be pouring in on this and maybe one of them can tell us where we’ve moved to.”

“On it,” Ariel nodded and ran over to one of the computer screens to start searching.

All of a sudden, her phone started ringing and her heart skipped a beat, thinking it might be the Doctor.

Jack apparently had the same thought because her peered over his computer screen and raised an eyebrow. “Is it him?” Jack asked. He had been unable to get a signal to the Tardis and despite that possibly being the work of whatever had moved them, maybe a phone the Doctor had upgraded stood a chance.

“No,” Ariel sighed. “I got it on Richard Dawkins, but it’s my Mum,” she said. “I’ll be just a mo,” she told him, holding up the phone so he could see.

Jack nodded. “Tell her to stay inside. We don’t know if this was done with hostile intent. Whatever did this could come here.”

“Agreed,” Ariel sighed before answering her mobile.

“Ariel?!” Carol exclaimed. “Are you on Earth?! Have you seen what’s happening?!”

Just then, Gwen’s mobile started to ring as well and Jack sighed. “Everybody tell your families to stay indoors, if they know or if they don’t they need to stay inside. We’re gonna work this out.”

Gwen held up her phone. “It’s Rhys,” she sighed. 

“Tell him, we’ll work it out but you need to stay here for now so we can fix whatever the hell this is,” Jack instructed and Gwen nodded before taking her phone call up the steps so it wouldn’t be interrupted with three different voices trying to talk over her.

“Rhys? Yeah, I’m here,” Gwen said before her voice grew distant as she continued to talk to him.

“Mum?” Ariel prompted. “I’m on Earth,” she nodded, walking across the room from Jack and Ianto so she could speak. “No, I’m not with the Doctor. It’s sort of a long story. I’ll explain everything when I can but to make a long story short we had our first fight,” she sighed.

Ariel glanced up and watched as Ianto tuned in as many screens as he could and Jack continued to scan the Earth and everything surrounding it.

“I’m with some mates who know the Doctor,” Ariel nodded. “We’re working on whatever this is.”

“Well, where’s the Doctor?!” Carol exclaimed.

“We’re working on that too,” Ariel sighed. “My guess is he’s having a bit of difficulty finding us seeing as we’ve moved.”

“So, we’ve definitely moved?” Carol prompted. “You’re sure of that?” The older woman was sitting in her home with her doors locked and the lights out so the panicking public wouldn’t race inside and tried to rob her. She had a cricket bat by her side on the sofa just in case. She knew all too well the mentality people are thrown into when the power is out and it seems like the end of days.

“Positive,” Ariel nodded. “Just stay inside. We know someone has done this but we’re not sure who yet.”

“What about the planets in the sky? Do you know anything about them? Has the Doctor ever taken you to one of them?” Carol asked.

“Not that I know of,” Ariel shook her head. “But we’re scanning them. We’re finding out if any of them are dangerous,” she assured her mother.

“Right, well you make sure to keep out of trouble,” Carol warned. “I don’t need my daughter being enemy number one of whatever did this.”

Ariel chuckled. “I have to stop them, Mum. Whatever they are. I don’t think they did this with love in their hearts.”

“Oh, you’re so much braver than you used to be,” Carol sighed with a soft smile. “Travelling with that man has done you good,” she nodded, just as the sound of glass shattering echoed across the house. Carol bolted up to her room and smacked a man who was trying to crawl inside right across the head. “Oi, you bloody mingebag! Piss off!” She roared. She dropped the phone momentarily to shove a bookcase in front of the window before grabbing her mobile again with a sigh.

Ariel just laughed at the sound of her mother putting up one hell of a good fight against her own species.

“Mind you, if the aliens ever did get ahold of you, I think you’d put up a hell of a good fight,” Ariel remarked with a giggle.

Carol smiled and sighed softly as she plopped back down onto the sofa. “Just listen to me, love. I don’t know who you’re with, but if you trust them than just make sure you don’t die by their hands. Stay safe,” she instructed. “And work things out with the Doctor if you can. From what I saw, he is certainly worthy of you.”

Ariel smiled softly. “Thanks, Mum. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie. Good luck.”

Ariel hung up the phone and took a deep breath, closing her eyes and promising herself that she would make it back to her mother alive.

As she marched forward to check up on what experts might be thinking, the American News Network started loudly blasting over the other channels.

“The United Nations has issued an edict, asking the citizens of the world not to panic. So far, there has been no explanation of the twenty six planets which have appeared in the sky,” the broadcaster announced.

“But it's an empirical fact,” Richard Dawkins insisted from Ariel’s computer screen. “The planets didn't come to us, we came to them. Just look at the stars. We're in a completely different region of space. We've travelled.”

“Yeah, tell us something we don’t know,” Ariel said, hitting the mute button roughly.

Just then, the voice of Paul O’Grady echoed loudly from Ianto’s computer screen. “Do you know what, I look up and there's all these moons and things. Have you seen them? Did you see them?” He asked the audience.

“Yeah!” The audience chorused.

“I thought, what was I drinking last night, furniture polish?” Paul O’Grady sighed and Ianto started laughing alongside the studio audience.

Ariel snorted and turned back to her computer screen as Ianto cracked up.

“Ianto!” Jack snapped. “Time and a place.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s funny though,” Ianto sighed.

Ariel smirked, but as she spotted Jack frowning curiously at his computer screen, that smile fell. 

“What is it?” Ariel asked.

Jack didn’t answer, instead he just waved her forward and showed her his computer screen. At the center of the screen, the planets were displayed on the grid in rotation and the Earth was at the very bottom of the screen with an orange halo over it. On the right side of the screen, Jack was receiving his readings on the Earth, all telling them the same thing.

The Earth was safe from losing heat or air, but why?

“Who would do that?” Ariel frowned, shaking her head slightly in confusion.

Jack just shrugged. He couldn’t think of any species that would go so far as to move the Earth from its location, then try to ensure its inhabitants were safe.

“Who would do what?” Ianto prompted, peering at the pair of them from his computer screen.

“Hold on,” Jack said. “I wanna get Gwen in on this too. Gwen!” He called. “Come and see.”

Gwen walked out to the staircase, still on the phone with Rhys. “Rhys, I have no idea,” Gwen sighed. “Just stay indoors. And can you phone my mother? Tell her, er, oh, I don't know. Just tell her to take her pills and go to sleep. I'm going to come home as soon as I can, I promise. I love you, you big idiot,” she smiled before hanging up the phone and running down the steps to Jack’s computer. 

Gwen walked over and stood by Ianto and Ariel as they all frowned at the screen. “Someone's established an artificial atmospheric shell, keeping the air and holding in the heat,” Jack explained.

“Whoever's done this wants the human race alive,” Ianto concluded with a nod. “That's a plus,” he shrugged. He narrowed his eyes at the screen and sighed softly at the analysis. “Twenty seven planets, including the Earth,” he mumbled.

“The only question is why would they do this and who are they,” Ariel muttered, raking her fingers through her hair.

As the planets began to turn in their orbits, a bright red flashing dot was revealed on the radar.

“No, but what's that?” Gwen asked, pointing at the screen and narrowing her eyes at the small red dot. “That's not a planet,” she shook her head.

“It’s right at the center of them,” Ariel breathed. “Right at the center of all the planets.”

“That means it has to be whatever sent us here,” Jack nodded as he tried to focus the readings on just that small red dot.

“What, you think they would just hang around at the center of all of it?” Gwen prompted.

“Probably,” Ariel nodded. “As far as we know there haven’t been any attacks yet and we seem to be the most populated planet out of the bunch according to these readings. If this species wants control of all these planets, they’d want to make sure the most populated one was dealt with and out of the way first.”

“Look at that, she makes us sound like fleas,” Gwen hummed.

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but to a lot of warrior races in the galaxies, we are,” Ariel shrugged.

“She’s not wrong,” Jack sighed.

“Oh, that makes me feel better,” Ianto mumbled sarcastically.

Just then, there was a loud beep and several more images popped on the screen when Jack was monitoring them. These were all red and flashing but much more scattered and closer to Earth.

“Uh, Ariel?” Jack prompted. “Remember how you said they would come for Earth first?”

“Yeah?” Ariel frowned. 

“Well, it looks like you were right,” Jack sighed. “Look at the way all these ships are moving,” he said, waving to the screen and showing every single ship moving towards Earth.

“Do we know what they are yet?” Ariel asked with wide eyes.

“Nope,” Jack shook his head. “I can’t get a clear signal yet, but whatever they are, something tells me they don’t want to sing songs around the campfire,” he muttered. “We need to get these images out to all the major news networks and Unit.”

“Got it,” Ariel nodded. 

“On it,” Ianto said.

They all ran to different computer screens and started sending Jack’s scans to them. Ariel sent the information to Martha at Unit and to the BBC while Ianto and Gwen sent them to America and other major countries. They had to make sure everybody knew.

Something was coming.

Soon after the scans were sent, the citizens of planet Earth scrambled, preparing for a fight. Martha pulled up the scans at Unit and within moments they all had a code red. She tried to dial the Doctor, knowing that Ariel and Torchwood had probably tried as well but deciding that she might as well give it a shot. 

It was mere minutes before the BBC News began displaying the scans with quick confirmation of their validity.

“We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships. The Pentagon has issued an emergency report saying that two hundred objects are now heading towards Earth in a regular pattern. Organized flight plan. Citizens are advised to not engage with spaceships that may land near them and are instead instructed to phone local authorities and stay indoors,” the newscaster instructed.

The Torchwood team bolted across the Hub, all looking to secure the base and continue scanning for the progress of the ships as well as figure out who they are.

“How close are they?!” Ariel called as she brought the weapons out from the room Jack had shown her and placed them out for easy access.

Gwen ran up to the computer screen and checked the progress. “Three thousand miles and closing,” she announced. “But who are they?” She frowned, shaking her head at the screen.

“Whoever it is, we’re probably gonna have to put up a fight against them, so we might as well be prepared,” Ariel sighed.

“Couldn’t agree with you more,” Gwen nodded.

Just then, Jack’s mobile rang and he tossed Ariel the guns he was carrying before fishing it out of his pocket and smirking as he answered it.

“Martha Jones, voice of a nightingale,” Jack hummed. “Tell me you put something in my drink.”

“Martha?!” Ariel exclaimed. “Put her on speaker.”

Jack nodded and put his phone on speaker. “Uh, Martha, I’ve got Ariel here. You’re on speaker.”

“Ariel, why aren’t you with the Doctor?” Martha asked.

“It’s a long story. Jack found me and brought me back to Earth and now none of us can get in contact with him,” Ariel sighed.

“Oh, I was just about to ask that same thing. I can’t get in contact with him either,” Martha mumbled.

“Yeah, where are you?” Jack asked.

“New York,” Martha said.

“Ooo, nice for some,” Jack shrugged.

“I went there once as a kid over the summer, not bad,” Ariel said and Jack nodded. “But wait, why are you there? Last time we talked you were working for Unit here.”

“I've been promoted. Medical Director on Project Indigo,” Martha replied.

“Did you get that thing working?” Jack frowned and all three of them stared up at him with wide eyes.

Martha seemed to be shocked on the other side of the phone as well. “Indigo’s top secret,” she said. “No one’s supposed to know about it.”

Ariel raised an eyebrow at Jack.

Jack just smirked. “I met a soldier in a bar, long story,” he shrugged and Ariel snorted as Ianto whipped his head up and automatically frowned at Jack.

“When was that?” Ianto asked, careful not to let the jealousy creep into his tone.

Jack covered the receiver and turned to Ianto. “Strictly professional,” he assured him.

Gwen peered down at the computer and Ariel walked over to her side, awaiting the announcement of her impending death.

“How close are we?” Ariel asked with a sigh.

“Fifteen hundred miles, and accelerating,” Gwen muttered, her hand shaking anxiously as she stared at the screen. “They're almost here,” she breathed.

All of a sudden, there was a strange blip on the screen.

“Hang on, what was that?” Ariel mumbled.

“What?” Gwen frowned.

“Just a second,” Ariel said, holding up a finger as she went to the screen and tried to get the blip. “It’s some form of communication from the ships. It’s for all of Earth. Everyone’s going to be hearing this.”

“Put it through,” Jack nodded.

Ariel clicked on the signal and awaited the message.

There was a brief silence before, like a siren, the most horrifying robotic voice echoed through the Torchwood speakers.

“Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate.”

Ariel’s heart stopped beating as it fell into her stomach and her eyes widened, tears forming in her eyes as if on instinct at the sound of that monstrous voice.

“No,” Jack breathed, shaking his head in horror as he stared up at the speakers.

“It can’t be,” Ariel muttered. The Doctor said one day they would come back, she just never thought it would be at the one time they couldn’t reach him.

“Exterminate. Exterminate.”

“Oh, no,” Jack gasped.

“It’s them. They’re here. They have control of the Earth,” Ariel panicked, her heart racing loudly in her ears as her hands began to shake.

“What is it? Who are they? Do you know them?” Gwen asked, glancing desperately at the pair of them.

Jack pulled the trio close and placed kisses on each of their heads, clinging to them all tightly.

“Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate.”

“There’s nothing I can do,” Jack mumbled, shaking his head at the speakers, his face frozen in shock. 

“Exterminate.”

“I’m sorry,” Jack sighed. “We’re dead.”

They stayed like that, frozen in terror,  just listening to the sound of the Daleks screaming exterminate to the entire population, announcing their presence loudly as they swarmed down to Earth, killing anyone and everyone they set their sights upon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Ianto so much oh my god he was my favorite from the entire show. I sobbed like a baby during the children of the earth, he deserves so much happiness. I also seriously miss Torchwood, like it deserves to be back on air it was so good.


	33. The Children of Time

After a lot of convincing from Ariel, Jack decided to put in some effort against the Daleks. She had to remind him that Torchwood and Unit were the only forces stopping the Daleks from killing everybody seeing as they couldn’t locate the Doctor.

Hearing that, they tuned into all Unit channels as well as all communications systems from leading government authorities such as the Prime Minister and the President. They looked out for them and worked out which places the Daleks were targeting first to help some people survive the massacre.

Ariel and Jack both knew they were some of the only people on Earth that had knowledge of the Daleks. They had to help humanity survive.

“The shields are down,” the Captain of the Valiant announced on Jack’s computer. “There's too many of them. Abandon ship!” He cried.

“The Valiant’s down!” Jack yelled to the group.

They were all at seperate computer stations tracking and monitoring what was happening across the world.

“Daleks converging on Bletchley Park,” Ariel announced. “The French Prime Minister just went dark.”

“Air force retreating over North Africa,” Ianto said. “Daleks landing in Japan.”

“We've lost contact with our Prime Minister's plane,” Gwen sighed and her eyes widened as she noticed something new on her screen “Jack! Manhattan!” She cried.

Jack scrambled to his phone and Ariel ran after him as he held it out so they call could hear.

“Martha, get out of there!” Jack yelled.

“I can't, Jack. I've got a job to do,” Martha sighed.

“Martha, do as he says!” Ariel screamed.

“They're targeting military bases and you’re next on the list!” Jack warned.

“Doctor Jones, you will come with me. Project Indigo is being activated. Quick march,” a man, who Ariel assumed was Martha’s boss, instructed her.

Jack’s eyes widened and he placed a finger to his lips, signalling them all to be quiet. If Martha was letting them listen in to what was happening around her, he needed to hear every word.

“But we can't use Project Indigo,” Martha reasoned. “It hasn't been tested, sir. We don't even know if it works.”

Ariel stared down at the phone with wide eyes. They were putting Martha through some untested program that Jack didn’t trust? That didn’t sound very good.

There was the sound of a loud hiss from a machine which Ariel could only assume was a door opening.

“Put it on,” Martha’s boss instructed. “Fast as you can.”

Jack took a shaky breath. “Martha, I’m telling you, don’t use Project Indigo. It’s not safe!” He yelled into the phone.

Martha seemed to quiet for a moment as she genuinely considered heeding Jack’s warning. She knew she might be a fool if he was right and she didn’t listen.

However, her boss seemed to think otherwise.

“You take your orders from UNIT, Doctor Jones. Not from Torchwood,” the man snapped and Ariel rolled her eyes in aggravation.

“But why me?” Martha wondered.

“You're our only hope of finding the Doctor,” the man said simply with a small shrug. “But failing that, if no help is coming, then with the power vested in me by the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, I authorise you to take this. The Osterhagen Key,” he told her, presumably handing her some sort of key.

“Osterhagen Key?” Ariel echoed with a small frown.

“I can’t take that, sir,” Martha gasped.

“You know what to do, for the sake of the human race,” the man said firmly and Ariel’s eyes widened.

Whatever that key was, it could possibly wind up in a genocide, either of the human race or of the Daleks and neither of them were good.

Martha took a shaky breath and sighed into the phone and Ariel could easily guess that she had taken the key.

Ariel took a deep breath and spun around, raking her fingers through her hair furiously. She had never truly considered how much the human race loved weapons until she had met the Doctor. It was one thing to still have guns around but it was entirely different when they kept making bigger and more dangerous weapons, fit for killing millions.

“Daleks one five reaching north corridor,” a Dalek voice said on the other end of the line. 

Ariel inhaled sharply. “They’ve gotten in,” she mumbled.

“Exterminate. Exterminate.”

“Doctor Jones, good luck,” Martha’s boss sighed.

“Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate.”

“Bye, Jack. Bye, Ariel,” Martha said softly into the phone.

“Martha, no!” Ariel screamed.

“Martha, don’t do it!” Jack shouted. “Don’t!” He yelled, but it was no use. There was a loud whooshing sound and the line went dead.

When Jack lost her, he threw his phone on the table and kicked it roughly, sighing shakily and leaning forward.

“What’s Project Indigo?” Ianto asked.

“Why isn’t she safe?” Ariel breathed, trusting Jack enough to know something was seriously wrong.

“Experimental teleport salvaged from the Sontarans,” Jack muttered. “She isn’t safe because they haven't got coordinates, or stabilisation!” He snapped, kicking the desk once again.

“So where is she?” Gwen wondered.

“Scattered into atoms,” Jack sighed.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel gasped, backing away and placing her hands over her mouth as Ianto did the same.

“Martha’s down,” Jack nodded.

~~~

Meanwhile, in Edinburgh in the house of Carol Parsons there was a loud thumping on the door.

Carol frowned and stood up, narrowing her eyes at the door.

“Forced entrance required,” a robotic voice announced. “Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate.”

Carol’s blood ran cold, she darted back to her bedroom and dialed her daughter’s phone. As she did so, she pushed her dresser in front of the door and locking herself in the wardrobe.

“Come on,” Carol whispered. “Pick up, pick up, pick up.”

In Cardiff, Ariel’s phone rang once again. She pulled it out and frowned. “Two calls in one day,” she breathed. “One minute,” she nodded to the Torchwood team. “Mum?” Ariel prompted.

“Ariel!” Carol’s voice shrieked through the phone.

“Blimey, Mum, what’s wrong?” Ariel asked.

“They’re here, Ari,” Carol sighed. “Those things. Those robots. They’re here. They’re outside.”

“Oh, my God,” Ariel breathed. “Jack, they’re at my Mum’s!” Ariel called. “Hold on, Mum, we’ll figure out what to do.”

Jack ran forward and grabbed the phone. “Mrs Parsons? I’m Jack Harkness, sorry to meet you like this but just tell me what they’re saying and I’ll see if I can help you. Are they forcing their way in?” Jack asked and Ariel held her breath, watching him with wide eyes.

Jack nodded. “Alright, and they don’t know you’re Ariel’s mother?” He prompted. 

Jack sucked in a sharp breath and covered the receiver, turning to the team. “They’re invading people’s homes, tell whoever's left. They must be gathering people for something.”

Gwen and Ianto nodded, running to the computers but sparing a sympathetic glance at Ariel before they left.

Ariel took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “It’s either she gets taken by them or she gets killed, isn’t it?” She prompted.

Jack glanced back at her sadly. “I’m sorry,” he sighed.

“They’ve got the whole planet, Jack. It would be kinda hard to keep her safe unless she was here or on the Tardis. I understand,” Ariel nodded. “Hopefully, we can find the Doctor and figure out whatever they’re using the humans for.”

Jack nodded and turned to report the grim news to Mrs Parsons. He told her that she would have to go with the Daleks to wherever they may be keeping people. There was silence on his end before he took a deep breath and turned to Ariel with the phone out.

“She wants to talk to you,” Jack said. “I’ll give you some time alone,” he nodded and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Ariel took a deep breath and turned away from the door. “Mum?” Ariel prompted, trying desperately to remain strong for her mother.

“Hey, sweetheart,” her mother sighed, appearing to be far better at staying calm than her daughter.

Ariel choked back a sob. “I’m sorry,” Ariel breathed. “The one chance I get to save you and I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, sweetie, it’s not your fault. That man. Jack. He says you can save the Earth,” Carol nodded. “He called you brilliant,” she smiled. 

Ariel laughed as tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away frantically. “I promise,” Ariel nodded. “I promise I’ll try to save you. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“I know, love. I know. But if it comes down to me or the planet, which Jack said it may, you have to save the world,” Carol insisted before chuckling humorlessly. “My daughter, saving the world,” she sighed. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

Ariel crumbled, placing her forehead down on the cool surface of the desk as she grabbed onto the phone with both hands. “I love you,” she breathed, tears streaming down her face.

“I love you too, sweetie. Remember that,” Carol said. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the wardrobe as the Daleks finally broke into her room.

Ariel squeezed her eyes shut and hung up the phone, unable to listen to her mother being taken prisoner by the Daleks.

She took a deep breath. She had to remain strong. She had to keep fighting. If she couldn’t do anything on Earth, she had to try to contact the Doctor.

Across the universe in the Tardis, the Doctor had given up his desperate search for Earth. He tried and he tried and he found nothing.

Not even the slightest signal that Earth could be nearby.

It was lost. 

Ariel was on that planet somewhere fighting. Rose was probably there too.

Both women he loved fighting for their lives and he couldn’t be there to help them.

He leant back and stared at the console, pain in his chest as he realized that both women were probably fighting thinking the Doctor had abandoned them. They were both alone and rather than coming through and helping them when those most needed it, he just felt useless.

“Doctor, what do we do?” Donna asked, looking up at the Doctor and feeling her heart sink into her stomach at his vacant expression. “Now, don’t do this to me,” Donna sighed. “No, don’t,” she shook her head. 

Donna knew what she was supposed to do then. She’d heard and watched Ariel do it a thousand times. She was supposed to encourage him, to somehow find a way to bring the life back to the Doctor and make him the man they all loved. The one who never gave into his fear and self doubt, but Donna worried she wasn’t the right person for that. She didn’t believe in herself, but she believed in the Doctor and even he needed encouragement from a woman who wasn’t there.

If either of them had ever questioned if they needed Ariel, that moment proved it to them more than ever. They needed her hopeful attitude to keep life in the Tardis when moments grew grim. Her never wavering belief kept them standing strong when their faith began to slip.

Now, she was gone and neither of them knew what to do to save her.

“Don't do this to me. Not now,” Donna insisted. “Tell me, what are we going to do?”

Of all the times the Doctor could lose hope and feel worthless, the time when she couldn’t properly encourage him was one of the worst. Donna realized all in a flash that was why he didn’t like traveling alone. It wasn’t to have a nice friend occasionally or have someone help him when saving the universe, it was to have someone to keep him fighting. 

Ariel had realized that long before Donna and managed to keep the Doctor upbeat before Donna had even realized they needed to do that.

Donna wished more than ever that the young girl was dancing around the Tardis, her bright smile lighting up the room as it had always done. She wished the girl was there, grabbing the Doctor’s hands and assuring him that he was the most brilliant man she had ever met.

Donna tried to think of what Ariel would say if the situation had been reversed and the redhead herself was stuck on Earth while Ariel was on the Tardis with the Doctor having to keep him fighting to find everyone.

“Doctor, you never give up,” Donna reminded him. “Please,” she begged.

Back on Earth in Torchwood, Ariel’s own spirit had been drained as she sat on the floor beside with sofa hugging her knees to her chest. With wide eyes she listened as the one computer screen still on transmitted the surrender of planet Earth to the Daleks.

Ariel barely blinked as she listened, unable to close her eyes for fear that she would give in to her weakness and start crying.

“This is the Commander General of the United Nations calling the Dalek Fleet. We surrender. Repeat, we surrender. Planet Earth surrenders.”

Ariel sighed softly and clenched her jaw. She had to remain strong. She couldn’t allow herself to start bawling out of nowhere. She wanted to keep her composure for her mother. Even if planet Earth had surrendered, her mother would’ve counted on her to be strong. To keep fighting within herself no matter how hopeless she felt.

Ariel didn’t know if they would ever reach the Doctor again, but it wasn’t like they could just walk out and try to find him even if they did find out his Tardis had made it onto Earth.

Nobody in the Torchwood base spoke, all weighed down by the grim loss of their home. None of them could go outside to keep safe from possible Dalek testing. Even if they had wanted to, Jack stopped them before they could even start walking toward the door.

Jack walked up to Ariel and offered her a cup of tea, trying for a smile as he sat down by her side.

Ariel nodded to him and accepted the cup, sipping it silently.

Jack sighed softly and sat down by her side as the Daleks continued to list their orders to the human population and those selected for testing. 

It was all to be expected. The humans selected for testing must obey Dalek instructions and those left on Earth could not question the Daleks but obey their every command. The torture was that hearing those words set in the fact that they had lost. The Earth was no longer in their hands. It stung to even think about let alone hear through every speaker on Earth.

All of a sudden, there was a loud beeping from the one computer screen left on in the Hub. Ariel frowned and sat up, narrowing her eyes at the computer screen.

“Can anyone hear me? The Subwave Network is open. You should be able to hear my voice Is there anyone there?” A woman’s voice said throughout the Hub.

“Hold on,” Ariel muttered. “That voice sounds familiar.”

“Can anyone hear me?” The woman asked. “This message is of the utmost importance. We haven't much time. Can anyone hear me?”

Gwen got up, hearing the voice as well. Ariel put her cup down and walked up to the computer screen as Gwen tried to pull the message through.

“Someone’s trying to get in touch,” Gwen frowned.

“The whole world’s crying out,” Jack sighed. “Just leave it,” he shrugged.

The image faded into view and Ariel’s eyes widened. “That can’t be,” Ariel breathed.

“Captain Jack Harkness, shame on you!” The former Prime Minister snapped. “Now stand to attention, sir.”

“What?” Jack frowned, bolting up and running to the screen. “Who is that?”

The woman on the screen held up her ID to Gwen, Ariel and Jack. “Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister.”

“Yeah,” Ariel scoffed. “We know who you are.”

“But I don’t believe I’ve ever had the courtesy of meeting you, dear,” Harriet nodded. “Do you work for Torchwood?”

“No,” Ariel smirked. “I dated the Doctor. I still might be, I honestly don’t know,” she shrugged. “But for now I traveled with him. He dropped me off at this alien planet then sort of when off the radar. Jack picked me up and brought me home, but I haven’t been able to get in contact with him since,” she sighed.

“Nor have I,” Harriet nodded. “Though the Daleks seemed to have gained control over the Earth,” she muttered. “Which is why I’m utilizing this system. Now, if you don’t mind I’ll need some time to increase the signal to talk to our other contacts.”

“Other contacts?” Ariel frowned as Harriet began typing on her computer.

“Yes, though contact with you, a current traveling companion of the Doctor and a woman in close relation with him is invaluable, we’ll need the assistance of others,” Harriet said.

“Hey, might I remind you, you called here to talk to me,” Jack chuckled and Ariel smirked as she rolled her eyes.

He was feeling a bit overshadowed in a place where he was the boss.

Harriet smiled softly, noting the tone of jealousy in Jack’s voice. “Yes, and while your assistance will be needed Captain Jack, discovering the assistance of the Doctor’s current traveling companion brings in far more reinforcements. Even still, we will need the help of some of the Doctor’s former traveling companions,” she sighed. “Sarah Jane Smith, 13 Bannerman Road,” Harriet announced. “Are you there?”

A frantic voice opened up over the network. Yeah. Yeah, I’m here. That, that’s me.”

She sounded like an older woman, Ariel frowned. She must’ve traveled with the Doctor before the Time War.

“Good. Now, let’s see if we can talk to each other,” Harriet sighed. She tapped around on her computer for a few moments before four square boxes filled the screen.

Harriet was in one, Ariel and Jack were in another and an older woman and a boy seeming to be in his early teens were in the third while static stood in the third.

“Aw, who’s that?” Ariel smiled at the boy.

“Oh, this is my son,” Sarah sighed. “Luke.”

“Oh, hi, Luke,” Ariel giggled. “You’re probably wondering who I am, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m Ariel Parsons. I travel with the Doctor right now and I think I’m still dating him.”

“What do you mean by, think?” Sarah wondered.

“It’s a long story but it wound up in me getting left on an alien planet and Jack bringing me back here which completely cut me off from contact with him,” Ariel mumbled.

“Forgive me, but I thought the Doctor and Miss Tyler were somewhat of an item,” Sarah frowned.

“Oh, he still loves her. Don’t get me wrong. I can see it in him. That sort of love doesn’t exactly go away, but he’s the first person who showed me some kindness in a long time and I’d like to think there’s enough room in his hearts for both of us,” Ariel shrugged.

Sarah smiled and nodded and they both turned to the box filled with static as Harriet typed furiously to try and fix it.

Meanwhile, in Chiswick, Rose stared at the screen with wide eyes at the young brunette. She had heard everything the girl said to Sarah and she wasn’t sure how to feel.

The brunette said the Doctor still loved her, but that they were together. She wanted to be jealous of Ariel, but how could she when it seemed like Ariel should be more jealous of her and was feeling nothing but admiration for when Rose and the Doctor was together.

Rose hoped more than anything that, amidst the chaos surrounding them and the desperate scramble to find the Doctor, she would be able to at least meet Ariel and get to know her. From what Rose could tell, she seemed like a genuinely good woman.

In the Subwave Network, Sarah, Ariel and Jack all stared at the static screen with frowns, silently wondering who could lay beyond it.

“The fourth contact seems to be having some trouble getting through,” Harriet mumbled. “I’ll just boost the signal.”

The static flickered and the smiling face of Martha Jones replaced the static.

“Oh, Martha, hi!” Ariel exclaimed with a grin and short laughed.

“Ha, ha!” Jack clapped joyfully. “Martha Jones,” he hummed. He looked down and narrowed his eyes at the location Martha was in. Last he’d heard from her, she was scattered into atoms. “Martha, where are you?”

“Yeah, last we’d heard you were scattered into atoms from that Project Indigo thing,” Ariel said.

“I guess Project Indigo was more clever than we thought,” Martha shrugged. “One second I was in Manhattan, next second. Maybe Indigo tapped into my mind, because I ended up in the one place that I wanted to be.”

Just then, an older woman that looked a lot like Martha walked into the vision of the camera and hugged her daughter with a soft smile.

“You came home. At the end of the world, you came back to me,” the older woman sighed.

Martha grinned at her before turning back to the screen with a small, slightly confused frown. 

“But then all of a sudden, it’s like the laptop turned itself on,” Martha said.

“It did,” Harriet nodded. “That was me,” she said, pulling out her ID and flashing it again. “Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister.”

Ariel just chuckled and spun around, rolling her eyes at Harriet. Everyone in England knew who she was.

“Yes, I know who you are,” Martha giggled.

“I thought it was about time we all met given the current crisis. Miss Parsons, Captain Jack, this is Sarah Jane Smith,” Harriet introduced.

“Pleasure, ma’am,” Ariel smiled kindly.

“I've been following your work,” Jack nodded. “Nice job with the Slitheen,” he smiled.

“Yeah, well, I've been staying away from you lot,” Sarah sighed. “Too many guns,” she said, nodding toward Luke and Ariel and Jack nodded in understanding.

“All the same, might I say looking good, ma'am?” Jack smirked and Ariel rolled her eyes.

“Really?” Sarah said, raising an eyebrow. “Ooo.”

“Oh, don’t start,” Ariel moaned.

“Not now, Captain,” Harriet sighed. “And Martha Jones, former companion to the Doctor.”

“But how did you find me?” Martha wondered. She didn’t even know she’d wind up back home.

“This, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Subwave Network. A sentient piece of software programmed to seek out anyone and everyone who can help to contact the Doctor,” Harriet announced, smiling at the five of them and unknowingly explaining everything to Rose as the blonde watched on from a computer at the Nobles’ house.

“What if the Daleks can hear us?” Martha asked, her eyes growing wide at the very thought.

“No, that's the beauty of the Subwave. It's undetectable,” Harriet assured them.

“And you invented it?” Sarah prompted, raising an eyebrow 

“I developed it,” Harriet shook her head. “It was created by the Mister Copper Foundation,” she told them.

“Yeah, but what we need right now is a weapon,” Jack sighed.

“But even if we use a weapon against the Daleks, the planet’ll still be stuck here,” Ariel shrugged. “We need something more.”

Jack frowned, narrowing his eyes in thought and nodding. “Martha, back there at Unit, what, what did they give you? What was that key thing?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Ariel said. “What the hell was that about?”

Martha took a shaky breath before holding up what looked like a computer chip. “The Osterhagen Key,” she sighed.

“That key is not to be used, Doctor Jones. Not under any circumstances,” Harriet snapped, seconds after Martha revealed it on the screen.

“But what is an Osterhagen Key?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, what does it do?” Ariel frowned.

“Forget about the key, and that's an order,” Harriet said, glaring at Ariel and Jack through the computer screen and they both took a single step back with wide eyes. “All we need is the Doctor,” Harriet nodded. 

“Only, excuse me, Harriet, but. Well, the thing is, if you're looking for the Doctor, didn't he depose you?” Sarah prompted.

“He did,” Harriet sighed.

Ariel’s eyes widened as she remembered. “Oh, now I remember!” She exclaimed. “The Doctor told me about how after he regenerated when he was with Rose there was this Prime Minister-I shouldn’t be saying this out loud I am so sorry,” she sighed, smiling sheepishly.

Little did she know, on the Nobles’ computer screen, Rose was grinning ear to ear. The Doctor had told Ariel about her and their trips together.

“I've wondered about that for a long time, whether I was wrong. But I stand by my actions to this day, because I knew, I knew that one day, the Earth would be in danger, and the Doctor would fail to appear,” Harriet nodded and Ariel rolled her eyes. She was certain he was probably trying every way he could think of to get back to Earth and the Daleks were just keeping him away. She didn’t doubt for a second that the Doctor was trying to get back to them. “I told him so myself, and he didn't listen,” Harriet shrugged.

“But I've been trying to find him,” Martha frowned. “The Doctor's got my phone on the Tardis, but I can't get through.”

“I don’t think any of us can,” Ariel mumbled. “We’ve been trying here for hours. The Daleks must be blocking the signal.”

“That's why we need the Subwave,” Harriet nodded. “To bring us all together. Combine forces. The Doctor’s secret army.”

“Oh, I like that,” Ariel giggled. “The Children of Time,” she said ominously as if to give them all a title.

She had no idea that the Daleks at the time were addressing them as just that.

“Wait a minute,” Jack muttered, holding up a finger as he thought. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. We can boost the signal. That's it. We transmit that telephone number through Torchwood itself, using all the power of the Rift,” he smiled.

“Would that be enough?” Ariel frowned.

“Well, we’ve got Mister Smith,” Sarah’s son Luke grinned. “He can link up with every telephone exchange on the Earth. He can get the whole world to call the same number, all at the same time. Billions of phones, calling out all at once.”

“That’s perfect!” Ariel exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Brilliant,” Jack chuckled with a nod.

Just as they were about to begin, Ianto cleared his throat.

“Yeah, Ianto?” Ariel prompted.

“Excuse me,” Ianto sighed, gently pushing past Jack and Ariel to face the screen. “Sorry. Sorry. Hello. Ianto Jones,” he introduced himself quickly. “Er, if we start transmitting, then this Subwave Network is going to become visible. I mean, to the Daleks,” he reminded them and Ariel’s eyes widened.

“Yes, and they'll trace it back to me,” Harriet nodded. “But my life doesn't matter. Not if it saves the Earth,” she smiled softly.

“Blimey,” Ariel sighed. Maybe, the Doctor had underestimated her.

Jack straightened and stood in a salute to the courageous woman. “Ma’am,” he nodded.

“Oh, don’t salute,” Ariel winced, pulling his arm down. She was beginning to have the Doctor’s distaste for soldiers after Messaline and the planet of the automatically processed soldiers.

Jack chuckled as noted the similarity.

Harriet just grinned at the pair of them. “Thank you, Captain,” she nodded. “But there are people out there dying on the streets.”

“They took my Mum in for testing,” Ariel nodded, gulping harshly. “I just wanna say thank you for saving her life.”

Harriet smiled kindly. “You’re welcome,” she took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “Now, enough of words. Let's begin.”

Jack nodded. “Alright, Ianto, Gwen, power up the Rift from the computers. Ariel and I will sent maximum power to it firsthand and then we’ll try and force the number through with everything we’ve got.”

They all nodded and Jack guided over to the large beam in the center of the Hub that channeled the energy of the Rift.

Jack pulled a lever and pointed to watch switches and levers Ariel should pull and what buttons to press.

“Rift power activated,” Jack announced.

“All terminals coordinated,” Gwen said, typing quickly and grabbing some wires for Ariel and Jack to plug into the Rift so they could send the number through.

“National grid online,” Ianto nodded. “Giving you everything we've got.”

Ariel nodded and kept a lever held down as Jack ran back to one of the tables and grabbed their phones, stopping momentarily to turn up the volume of the Subwave Network so they could hear the progress.

Jack walked over to the Rift and pressed three buttons before tossing Ariel’s phone to her. “Here,” Jack said. “Make that call. The more phones the better.”

Ariel nodded and dialled with one hand while she ran across the room and grabbed more cords to provide more energy for the Rift. 

She plugged them in and placed her phone between her cheek and her shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing softly.

“Come on, Doctor,” Ariel breathed. “Find us.”

“Opening Subwave Network to maximum,” Harriet announced.

Jack tapped Ariel’s shoulder and nodded to the computers. Luckily, the work was simple and it was just sending everything she could to the Rift, which was connected to all the computers through four wires.

“Calling the Doctor,” the robotic voice of Mister Smith said through Sarah’s end of the Subwave.

“Everyone ready?” Jack called. They all nodded. “Okay! Send now!”

They all hit enter at the exact same time sending circles of pulsing blue energy out from the Rift, beaming out to the Doctor.

“Do you think he’ll be able to track this?!” Gwen exclaimed.

“He will,” Ariel grinned. “You watch him,” she nodded. “You watch him run.”

They typed furiously, sending all the power they could to the Rift. 

“We need to increase the signal!” Jack yelled as sparks began to shoot out from the Rift and the electronics surrounding it. “Ariel!”

“On it!” Ariel screamed, nodding as she darted through the flying sparks, covering her face with her arms as some shot out right beside her while she pulled another lever and dozens of more pulsing blue rings of energy shot out towards the Doctor.

She continued dialling the number as Jack and Gwen did the same thing,

The energy of the Hub was being overloaded, but Jack laughed as he stared at his screen, none of them ceasing typing for even a second.

“I think we’ve got a fix!” Jack shouted.

Ariel laughed, grinning at her screen. “Come on, Doctor!” She yelled. “Come on!”

Ariel bolted over to Jack’s side of the room and pulled another wire from one of the bins, running it to the Rift despite the small fire starting by the Rift.

“Harriet, a saucer's locked on to your location,” Gwen informed Harriet as Jack, Ariel, and Ianto all turned to her with wide eyes. “They've found you.”

“I know,” Harriet nodded. “I’m using the Network to mask your transmission. Keep going,” she insisted.

Ariel looked up at Jack with wide eyes and he simply shrugged. Regardless, they did as she said and continued working, keeping the signal strong so the Doctor could find them.

“Captain, Miss Parsons,” Harriet prompted and Ariel ran over to the Subwave Network screen with Jack to see Harriet looking at them grimly. “I'm transferring the Subwave Network to Torchwood. You're in charge now. And tell the Doctor from me that he chose his companions and girlfriend well,” Harriet nodded.

Ariel smiled sadly at her. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“It’s been an honor,” Harriet sighed before turning to stand up and face the Daleks.

“She sent us control so don’t let her die in vain,” Jack instructed. “Mask the signal as much as you can and keep it going strong. If you find the Tardis around here, bring the Doctor into the Network.”

Ariel, Gwen and Ianto all nodded, running to their computer screens to do as he said while Jack watched Harriet be killed by the Daleks and her screen turn to static. He sighed softly and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath and forcing the signal through. He couldn’t let Harriet die for nothing. They had to get to the Doctor.

Jack laughed as he finally got a signal from the Tardis. “Ah ha, finally!” Jack explained. “The Tardis,” he hummed. “Locking on. We can probably get him onto the Network fairly quickly if I stop the transmission and just boost the signal a bit,” he groaned as he worked out the technicalities.

Jack jumped back as, in Harriet’s place, the Doctor and Donna’s images filled the small square.

Ariel watched with wary eyes. 

Gwen frowned at her. “Aren’t you going up there?” She prompted. “He is your boyfriend, after all.”

“The last time I saw the Doctor, he was walking away from me in a pub as I cried my eyes out,” Ariel sighed. “I don’t know if I can face him. I mean, I know we need him to stop the Daleks, but I don’t know if I can look him in the eyes right now.

Jack turned to Ariel and raised an eyebrow, silently asking if she wanted him to tell the Doctor where she was. Ariel simply shook her head and Jack nodded, sighing softly as he turned back to the Network.

Gwen smiled kindly and wrapped her arms around Ariel, giving her a friend when Ariel was in need of it most.


	34. Rose Tyler

All of a sudden, the screen to the Subwave fell back to static and Ariel ran up to Jack’s side to hear a robotic voice mirroring the Daleks but sounding much more human than the mutants.

“Your voice is different, and yet its arrogance is unchanged,” the voice said.

Ariel and Jack shared a frown as Jack tried to hone in on the new signal they were receiving. Everyone on the Subwave seemed to be doing the same, fighting to see the image of the foreign individual because in mere seconds the image flickered than an individual that looked like an older more humanoid man sitting in a Dalek machine with some sort of Dalek eye in his head appeared and Ariel jumped back, covering her mouth as she gasped.

“No. But he’s dead,” Sarah’s voice breathed but they couldn’t see her face.

The only image was the strange man. Everyone else had disappeared.

“That’s impossible,”  Jack murmured.

“Do you know him?” Ariel frowned.

“That’s Davros,” Jack said, never taking his eyes off the screen. “Creator of the Daleks. But he died in the Time War,” Jack muttered, shaking his head in confusion.

Ariel turned to the screen with wide eyes as Davros addressed the Subwave Network and the Doctor.

“Welcome to my new Empire,” Davros sighed and everyone on the Subwave Network seemed to be watching him with bated breath. “Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race,” Davros said triumphantly.

“Doctor?” Ariel heard Donna’s voice softly prompt. Ariel was more than willing to bet the Doctor was terrified at that very moment. She felt horrible. She knew he was probably still upset with her, but she wanted nothing more than to comfort him against what was undoubtedly one of his longest enemies.

“Have you nothing to say?” Davros asked, seeming to be somewhat disappointed in the lack of a response from the Doctor.

“Doctor, it's alright. We're, we're in the Tardis. We're safe,” Donna assured him and Ariel smiled softly. She was happy that the redhead was trying to offer him some comfort when she wasn’t there.

“But you were destroyed. In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysium,” the Doctor breathed. “I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you.”

Ariel smiled softly. Of course the Doctor would try to save everyone. Even the creator of the Daleks.

“But it took one stronger than you. Dalek Caan himself,” Davros said.

The camera shifted and showed a blown open Dalek casing with chains pouring out of it as the mutant inside seemed to be dancing on top of the casing. Ariel winced at the very sight of it.

“I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times,” Dalek Caan laughed and Ariel suddenly felt even more disgusted by the Dalek before her and the Daleks themselves.

She frowned as she thought on what Davros said. “Daleks have names?” Ariel murmured to Jack.

“Only this one,” Jack sighed. “The last of the Cult of Skaro. They were created by Davros himself to imagine a future for the Daleks. He’s the last one left,” Jack said, nodding to the Dalek on the screen.

“Emergency Temporal Shift took him back into the Time War itself,” Davros said, a bit of pride seeming to spark through as he spoke about Dalek Caan.

Ariel rolled her eyes. That War clearly drove one of his creations insane and he was proud of that because he got to survive.

“But that's impossible,” the Doctor breathed. “The entire War is timelocked.”

“And yet he succeeded,” Davros nodded. “Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine. A single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?” Davros smirked at the camera.

“And you made a new race of Daleks,” the Doctor nodded, his stomach twisting uncomfortably at the thought.

“I gave myself to them, quite literally,” Davros nodded. “Each one grown from a cell of my own body,” he said, as he pulled back his tunic and revealed his bare ribs with just a few nerve endings over them, and his internal organs inside.

“Eugh!” Ariel cried, spinning around and wincing at the sight.

“New Daleks,” Davros sighed. “True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?” Davros wondered.

“After all this time, everything we saw, everything we lost, I have only one thing to say to you,” the Doctor sighed. “Bye!” He exclaimed and Ariel giggled as the Doctor shut down the entire Subwave.

“Alright,” Jack said, taking a deep breath and jumping up. “We need to get a location on that Tardis,” he announced, tapping on his Vortex Manipulator. “Ariel, are you coming?”

Ariel spared a hesitant glance at Gwen and the woman just grinned at her. Ariel knew she had to go and face the Doctor sometime, might as well get it out of the way. She took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah,”  Ariel smiled softly. “I’m coming,” she nodded.

Just as they were beginning to think they were in the clear, the universe decided to simply laugh and show them otherwise. Alarms started blaring throughout the Hub while Jack ran back to his office to grab his phone.

“Dalek saucer heading for the Bay. They've found us,” Ianto announced. He and Gwen raced into action.

“Martha, open that Indigo device. Now listen to me. Lift the central panel. There's a string of numbers that keep changing but the fourth number keeps oscillating between two different digits. Tell me what they are,” Jack instructed, flipping open his wrist teleport as he did so. “I need a code to be able to lock onto the Tardis,” he mumbled to Ariel as he listened to Martha give him the numbers. “Oscillating four and nine,” he nodded as he punched in the numbers. “Thank you, Martha Jones,” he smirked. 

Gwen walked up to Jack and handed him one of the large guns. She raised an eyebrow at Ariel, silently asking if she wanted a gun as well and Ariel just shook her head. She didn’t enjoy carrying weapons after what she had done growing up.

“We've got to go. We've got to find the Doctor,” Jack sighed and they seemed to be looking at him as though they would never see him again. “I'll come back,” he nodded and their expressions never wavered. “I'm coming back.”

Ariel assumed that he had probably left Gwen and Ianto quite a few times and they had never known when or if he was coming back again.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright here?” Ariel asked.

“Don’t worry about us,” Gwen shook her head. “Just go,” she insisted, smiling softly.

“We’ll be fine,” Ianto assured them with a nod.

“You’d better be,” Jack smirked. He nodded to Ariel to grab his wrist and she smiled at the Torchwood team before Jack pressed the button and made them vanish from that spot.

They reappeared on an abandoned street. One of many across the world with cars skewed carelessly across the street as people had left them in their desperate scramble to get away from the Daleks. Most of them had probably been unable to succeed.

In the distance, Ariel spotted the Tardis and she grinned, a swell of relief rushing through her body before terror flooded in to clench that relief.

“Get down!” Jack yelled, pushing her to the side and using his gun to blow up a Dalek in the distance.

When they were sure it was dead, Ariel sighed softly. “Maybe, I should’ve taken that gun,” she sighed with a soft smile.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t start smiling just yet,” Jack mumbled and gestured to where, a couple feet from the Tardis the Doctor laid on the ground gasping for air as a blonde woman held him tightly.

“Doctor!” Ariel shrieked, tears forming in her eyes. She bolted over to the other side of the Doctor, her head pounding in her ears as she fell to her knees and held up in her arms. “Doctor,” she breathed, her heart aching as she realized that the oracles were right. She told him her secret on the eve of his death. 

She cursed the fact that they ever went on that trip to Pompeii.

“Ariel,” the Doctor groaned, trying to sit up and wincing in pain as he did so. “I-I’m sorry,” he breathed.

“Shh,” Ariel hummed. “Don’t, Don’t speak,” she sniffled.

“Ariel, Rose, we have to get him into the Tardis,” Jack snapped.

“Rose,” Ariel gasped, staring up at the blonde woman with wide eyes. “You’re Rose Tyler.”

Rose nodded. “And you’re Ariel Parsons,” she said, trying for a small smirk. “I heard what you said on the Subwave.”

Before Ariel could respond, Jack picked up Rose’s large gun (a strong rival for Jack’s) and turned to the women with wide eyes.

“Tardis,” Jack insisted. “Quick! Move!”

“Right,” Ariel nodded, forgetting herself for a moment. “You grab his other side,” she instructed Rose. “Donna, keep the door open!” Ariel called.

Rose and Ariel both held the Doctor up. Rose wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and Ariel held his right as they brought him inside and dropped him on the floor so he would have room while Jack made sure there were no Daleks following them before closing the door and running to the far end of the console room with Donna while Rose and Ariel sat by the Doctor’s side, crying silently over him. Neither of them wanted to see the Doctor change his face. Neither one was prepared to face it.

“What, what do we do? There must be some medicine or something,” Donna insisted.

“Just step back. Rose, Ariel, you both have to do as I say, and get back,” Jack told them and the women shared a terrified glance. “He's dying and you both know what happens next.”

“What do you mean?” Donna frowned. “He can’t,” she breathed. The Doctor couldn’t die. Not when they had to save the Earth.

Ariel saw the Doctor’s skin began to glow and she choked back a sob. “It’s happening,” she muttered.

Rose noticed to and she sighed softly. “Oh, no. I came all this way,” Rose mumbled, tears streaming down her face.

“Come on,” Ariel sniffled, grabbing Rose’s hand. “We have to give him room.”

Rose wiped away a few stray tears and nodded as they headed back over to Jack’s side.

“What do you mean, what happens next?” Donna asked frantically, but all three people who could answer her were too caught up in losing the Doctor and having him be replaced with some new man they have to get to know all over again.

The Doctor’s right hand began to glow. “It’s starting,” he gasped, standing up as his body began to burn away who he was.

Ariel winced and buried her head in Jack’s chest as Jack wrapped his arms around all three women. Rose wrapped her arm around Ariel, glancing at the brunette with a cautious smile. She knew what it was like to be experiencing the man she loved burn away for the first time and though it pained her that the Doctor had fallen in love with another woman while she was away, she saw the girl looked about the same age that she herself was when she started traveling with him. If the situation had been reversed, she wouldn’t want Ariel to be rude and hateful to her. 

It was easy to fall in love with the Doctor if you travel with him for long enough. Rose knew Ariel didn’t deserve to be despised because she had done exactly what Rose did at the same age.

“Here we go,” Jack sighed as both of the Doctor’s arms began to glow. “Good luck, Doctor.”

Ariel squeezed her eyes shut and Rose smiled sadly, pulling the girl into a hug. Ariel hugged her back almost instinctively and Donna started at them with wide confused eyes.

“Will someone please tell me what is going on?!” Donna exclaimed.

Rose sniffled and peered over Ariel’s shoulder at Donna. “When he's dying, his er, his body, it repairs itself. It changes. But you can't!” She cried to the Doctor.

“I can’t watch this,” Ariel mumbled, tears streaming down her cheeks and onto Rose’s outfit.

The Doctor spared one last regretful glance at the woman he loved, both looking so terrified at the fact that he was changing. He wanted to stay the same. To remain there just for them, but he couldn’t. He could feel his body burning even as he just looked at them.

“I'm sorry, it's too late,” the Doctor said, truly feeling apologetic for the new person that was about to take his place. “I'm regenerating.”

The Doctor’s body burst into streams of light, flowing out golden energy from his head and hands.

He was regenerating. They all winced against the bright lights, covering their eyes against the Doctor’s death.

However, just as they thought a new person was going to pop out, the Doctor turned with visible difficulty and directed the regeneration energy pouring out of his hands towards his hand on the floor.

Ariel noticed and frowned as she watched the energy swirl around the hand.

The hand seemed to absorb the energy as it poured out of him and the Doctor jumped back and gasped, peering at the four of them with wide eyes.

“Now then,” the Doctor sighed, bearing the same face he’d worn before regeneration to the surprise of the four watching him. “Where were we?” He smirked.

They were all startled, glancing back at each other as if to just clarify that they were still sane.

Ariel was the first to recover and she stepped up to the Doctor, staring up at him with unblinking eyes. Now, knowing that he didn’t hate her and had in fact apologized for leaving, she was prepared to give him hell for it.

She clenched her jaw and smacked his cheek roughly.

“Okay!” The Doctor exclaimed, rubbing his cheek and wincing. “I deserved that,” he nodded.

“Don’t you  _ ever _ do that to me again!” Ariel snapped.

“The regeneration or leaving you in the pub?” The Doctor frowned.

“All of it!” Ariel yelled.

“Alright,” the Doctor nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Now then,” Ariel sighed. “I’ll ask the question on everybody’s mind, why the hell don’t you have a different face?” She frowned.

The Doctor smirked and ran up to his hand, glowing with regeneration energy. “It’s all thanks to my lucky hand,” the Doctor chuckled. “There now,” he mumbled. He blew the regeneration energy off the hand and it dissolved into the air surrounding them. He jumped up and grinned at the four of them. “You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but soon as I was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to. Why would I? Look at me. So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle, namely my hand. My hand there. My handy spare hand. Remember? Christmas Day, Sycorax. Lost my hand in a sword fight?” He prompted Rose. “That's my hand. What do you think?” He smiled.

Ariel watched with sad eyes as Rose stepped forward and cupped the Doctor’s cheek cautiously.

Ariel sighed softly and closed her eyes. There was no chance she could stay with the Doctor. If he had fallen out of love with Rose she might’ve stood a chance but she knew he never did. He had just allowed himself to move on past being upset over her all the time. He allowed himself to be with someone else. His love for her had never faded.

“You’re still you?” Rose breathed.

“I’m still me,” the Doctor nodded.

As Rose and the Doctor hugged, Jack walked over to Ariel and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You alright?” Jack prompted.

“No,” Ariel mumbled. “But it’s only right. She was there for him after the Time War, I was only there to help him move on after her.”

“I’m sorry,” Jack sighed.

“It’s fine. I knew I couldn’t be with the Doctor forever,” Ariel nodded. “I guess I had just always hoped it would be longer than this.”

Jack nodded and wrapped Ariel in a quick hug before walking away to talk to the Doctor. Rose had noticed Ariel’s sadness and headed over to her. She didn’t want to be the reason the girl was so sad.

“Hey,” Rose said.

“Hi,” Ariel murmured, giving Rose a quick meaningless smile.

“Listen, I know this must mean nothing but I don’t hate you and I don’t think the Doctor cares about you any less just because I’m here,” Rose shrugged.

“It’s alright,” Ariel nodded. “Really. You two are brilliant together. I can’t stand in the way of that.”

“You’re pretty incredible, has anyone ever told you that?” Rose smirked.

“Not really,” Ariel smiled. “Not anyone other than the Doctor,” she shrugged.

“Well you are. Most girls would be livid, but you cared about him even when he was talking about someone else,” Rose sighed. “That’s massive.”

“I knew you were hard to get over, I mean blimey I talked his ear off about this ex of mine that got killed,” Ariel muttered. “Plus, he actually had to deal with watching me reunite with him for hours before he died. It was only right that I listen to his past.”

Rose grinned. “I used to have this mate, Shireen. The only time we’d ever fall out was over a man and you’re clearly far better than either of us,” she chuckled.

“I don’t know about that,” Ariel scoffed. She glanced back at the Doctor and turned to Rose with a sigh. “I just want him to be happy,” she shrugged. “A bloke like that doesn’t need more pain, you know?”

“Yeah,” Rose nodded. “But we’ll find a way. I promise,” Rose assured her. “I know what it’s like to travel with the Doctor and leaving that all behind is not fun. I don’t wanna force that on you too.”

Ariel smiled. “You know, even if I did want to hate you, your kindness is making that extremely difficult.”

Rose laughed. “Well, I knew after what I heard you say to Sarah that there was no way I could hate you. I suppose, we’re just both too nice about this,” she shrugged.

Across the Tardis, the Doctor eyed Rose and Ariel as they laughed warily. 

“You think their exchanging embarrassing stories about you?” Jack smirked.

“I’d rather they were fighting,” the Doctor chuckled and Jack laughed.

“Oh, you have got to stop saying that,” Donna sighed with a roll of her eyes. First, he wanted Ariel to fight with Martha and now Rose. He just had to face the fact that that girl had more love in her heart than either of them could muster.

“Does he still stroke bits of the Tardis?” Rose eyes, grinning down at Ariel as she realized the situation had been reversed. She was the girl who had been with the Doctor before asking and learning about all the information she had missed while he was gone.

“Yes!” Ariel exclaimed with a laugh. “All the time!”

“Oh, I always used to be so weirded out by that,” Rose sighed.

“I think it’s kind of hard not too,” Ariel grinned.

“I used to always think,  _ do you two wanna be alone _ ?” Rose remembered with a laugh.

Ariel started laughing too and soon enough, it was like there had been no tension at all between the women. They were laughing like they had been friends for years, talking about the oddities of a man they both loved.

All of a sudden, the Tardis rocked violently, throwing the smiles off of all their faces. The lights died down ominously and all the power in the Tardis seemed to turn off except the display screens.

“What is it?” Ariel asked, running up to the Doctor as he peered down at the screen as the others did the same.

“They've got us,” the Doctor sighed. “Power's gone. Some kind of chronon loop,” he frowned.

“Maybe, they’re taking us to the ship,” Ariel said, looking up at Jack with wide eyes.

“Even if they take us to where she is, you know there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to find her,” Jack reminded her. “You know that.”

“Yeah, but I can at least hope,” Ariel sighed.

“Sorry, what’s going on?” Rose frowned.

“My Mum. She was taken by the Daleks for whatever their doing in that ship,” Ariel breathed, glancing up at the ceiling of the Tardis. “I told her I’d save her but,” she shrugged, tears forming in her eyes at the very thought.

“Hey,” Rose breathed, walking up and wrapping her arms around Ariel. “We’ll save her,” she promised. “Right, Doctor?”

“Yeah,” the Doctor muttered, too lost in thought to be of any comfort at the moment. “But where is it? Where exactly are they taking us?”

Ariel wiped her eyes and sniffled. “There was a big ship just outside of Earth,” she said. “Jack?”

“She’s right,” Jack nodded. “There's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of the planets. They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination,” he shrugged.

“You said these planets were like an engine,” Donna reminded the Doctor with a small frown. “But what for?”

“It must have something to do with this testing they’re getting people off the streets for,” Ariel nodded.

“Rose, you've been in a parallel world. That world's running ahead of this universe. You've seen the future. What was it?” The Doctor asked.

“It’s the darkness,” Rose breathed.

“Oh, that’s comforting,” Ariel remarked sarcastically.

“The stars were going out,” Donna mumbled.

“One by one,” Rose nodded. “We looked up at the sky and they were just dying. Basically, we've been building this, er, this travel machine, this, this er, dimension cannon, so I could. Well, so I could-,” she faltered and Ariel smirked, knowing exactly what she planned to say.

She built a dimension cannon so she could see the Doctor again.

The Doctor, however, seemed to miss the signs staring him in the face.

“What?” The Doctor frowned.

“So I could come back,” Rose smirked and rolled her eyes as the Doctor began to grin childishly at her. “Shut up,” she smiled. “Anyway, suddenly, it started to work and the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world, not just in yours, but the whole of reality. Even the Void was dead. Something is destroying everything.”

“In that parallel world, you said something about me,” Donna reminded her with a small frown.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she turned to the Doctor with a confused frown.  _ Parallel world?  _ She mouthed. The Doctor shook his head. He would explain later.

“The dimension cannon could measure timelines, and it's, it's weird, Donna, but they all seemed to converge on you,” Rose muttered, watching Donna warily.

“Blimey,” Ariel breathed.

“But why me? I mean, what have I ever done?” Donna said with wide eyes. “I'm a temp from Chiswick.”

“Donna Noble, you are so much more than that,” Ariel grinned. “You don’t really believe you’re nothing, do you?”

Before Donna could answer the scanner beeped loudly and diverted their attention. The Doctor jumped up to it and narrowed his eyes at the screen.

“The Dalek Crucible,” the Doctor hummed. “All aboard.”

They landed with a thud which forbid the horrors they were about to face outside those doors. Nobody wanted to leave. Why would they? They all just stared at the doors with wide eyes, rooted to the spots they stood in.

“The Tardis is secured,” a Dalek just outside the doors announced loudly.

“Doctor, you will step forth or die,” the Daleks commanded.

The Doctor turned to the group with a sigh. He knew none of his friends wanted to go out, but they had to leave. 

“We'll have to go out,” the Doctor muttered, watching as each of their faces fell in horror. They all would have much rathered staying in the Tardis where it was safe, but the Doctor had to be the bearer of bad news and tell them that their safety had slipped away the second they were pulled onto that ship. “Because if we don't, they'll get in.”

“You told me nothing could get through those doors,” Rose reminded him with a frown.

“You’ve got extrapolator shielding,” Jack nodded.

Ariel had no idea what that was but it sounded like it could fend off the Daleks so she was more than willing to stand behind it. She knew she should be ready to run out their and find her Mum, but she also knew that outside that door there would be millions of Daleks and she didn’t want to try to put up that kind of fight to get to the prisoners.

“Why can’t we just stay in here?” Ariel wondered.

The Doctor sighed softly. “Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids, and mad,” he told all of them. The Daleks had only just built up an Empire such as the one outside those doors. Despite facing the Daleks just a few months ago, even Ariel didn’t know the multitude of the Daleks outside. “But this is a fully-fledged Dalek Empire, at the height of its power. Experts at fighting Tardises, they can do anything. Right now, that wooden door is just wood.”

“What about your dimension jump?” Jack asked, gesturing to a round metal object around Rose’s neck.

“It needs another twenty minutes,” Rose sighed. “And anyway, I'm not leaving,” she insisted and Ariel smirked at her.

“What about your teleport?” Ariel asked Jack.

“Went down with the power loss,” Jack shrugged.

“Right then,” the Doctor sighed. “All of us together,” he said, smiling softly. “Yeah,” he nodded. “Donna?” He prompted and they all turned to the redhead to find her staring at nothing.

Ariel frowned and the Doctor leant forward and snapped her out of it. “Donna?” The Doctor repeated.

Donna shook her head and turned to the Doctor with wide eyes. “Yeah?” Donna breathed.

“I'm sorry,” the Doctor mumbled. “There's nothing else we can do.”

Donna had probably wanted to get back to her grandfather and mother and at least be there for them during this. Ariel sighed. She probably should’ve done the same. 

Now, her mother was going to be their lab rat and there was nothing she could do. Ariel felt regret swirling in the pit of her stomach. Her mother had been actually been putting in and effort recently, even going so far as to call her daily while she was with the Doctor, and now they were going to die before they could ever see each other again. 

“No, I know,” Donna nodded.

“Surrender, Doctor, and face your Dalek masters,” one of the Daleks outside commanded.

“Crucible on maximum alert,” another Dalek announced.

“Well then,” Ariel breathed. “Death by Daleks,” she muttered.

“Daleks,” Rose echoed softly, shaking her head as though she couldn’t believe that she was going to die after all that time searching for the Doctor.

“Oh, God,” Jack sighed. 

“It's been good, though, hasn't it?” The Doctor nodded. “All of us. All of it. Everything we did,” he muttered to Ariel with a small smile. “You were brilliant,” he nodded  before turning to Jack. “And you were brilliant,” he smiled and turned to Donna. “And you were brilliant,” he said and turned to Rose. “And you were brilliant. Blimey,” he sighed, thinking of his times with each individual standing before him.

The Doctor turned to the door and took a deep breath before pushing it open and marching out with Rose, Ariel, and Jack all following. Donna lagged behind as she stared after them with wide eyes, her heart thrumming loudly in her ears.

“Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks!” A red Dalek standing on a pedestal as though it were more important than the others cried.

“Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks!” The rest of the Daleks echoed victoriously.

Ariel gazed around with wide eyes, there were millions of them on levels reaching way above their heads. The Daleks soared through the air across them and there was even a small bunch of Daleks by their side guarding them and the Tardis.

“Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme. All hail the Daleks!” The Daleks continued shouting.

“Okay,” the Doctor sighed.

“Definitely a lot more than a few hundred,” Ariel nodded, her eyes fixed on the seemingly never ending stream of Daleks present.

“Behold, Doctor,” the red Dalek’s voice boomed, its robotic tone sounding deeper than the usual high pitched voice of all other Daleks. “Behold the might of the true Dalek race.”

The Doctor spun around and frowned when he saw Ariel, Jack, and Rose but no Donna by their side. “Donna!” The Doctor called. “You’re no safer in there.”

They all turned back to the Tardis where Donna remained just in time to see the doors slam shut before Donna could get out. The four of them all bolted up to the door and began banging on it, trying to get it open.

“What?” The Doctor frowned at the doorknob that he had not locked, but didn’t open when he turned it.

“Donna!” Ariel cried, slapping her hand on the glass of the Tardis door as she tried to get through to her friend.

“Doctor? What have you done?!” Donna exclaimed.

Ariel turned to the Doctor with wide eyes and he simply shrugged. “It wasn't me,” the Doctor shrugged. “I didn't do anything.”

“Oi! Oi, I'm not staying behind!” Donna cried.

The Doctor jerked the handle one last time before spinning back to the Red Dalek and laring at it. “What have you done?!” The Doctor exclaimed as Ariel continued to try and open the door, pounding her hand on it as she tried to let Donna out.

“This is not of Dalek origin,” the Red Dalek said simply.

“Doctor!” Donna cried.

“It’s alright, Donna. You’ll be alright!” Ariel assured her.

“Stop it!” The Doctor snapped. “She's my friend. Now open the door and let her out.”

“This is Time Lord treachery,” the Red Dalek insisted.

“How on Earth was it him?” Ariel frowned, giving up on the doorknob momentarily to face the Dalek. “You saw it yourself, the door just closed on its own.”

“Nevertheless, the Tardis is a weapon and it will be destroyed,” the Red Dalek said.

Just then, a trap door opened up beneath the Tardis and sent it flying down through the ship.

“Donna!” Ariel shrieked, running up to the trapdoor just in time to have Jack wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back before she could run straight into the trapdoor after Donna.

“What are you doing? Bring it back!” The Doctor yelled as they all stared down at the trapdoor with wide eyes. “What have you done? Where's it going?”

“The Crucible has a heart of Z-neutrino energy. The Tardis will be deposited into the core,” the Red Dalek said simply.

“No!” Ariel screamed and Jack pulled her back once again before she could run up to the Red Dalek and be shot down within seconds.

“You can't. You've taken the defences down. It'll be torn apart!” The Doctor shouted.

“Donna’s still in there!” Rose yelled.

“She’ll be killed!” Ariel screamed.

“Let her go!” Jack snapped.

“The female and the Tardis will perish together. Observe. The last child of Gallifrey is powerless,” the Red Dalek taunted and Ariel glared at it.

To their left, just in front of the hundreds of Daleks all swarming across the ship, a holographic screen turned on and there was an image of the Tardis bobbing in the molten core of the ship.

Ariel tapped the Doctor’s wrist and gestured up to the screen and his face fell as he gazed up at it, slowly drowning in the molten core.

“Donna’s gonna die in there,” Ariel breathed.

“Please. I'm begging you,” the Doctor requested, turning back to the Red Dalek. “I'll do anything! Put me in her place. You can do anything to me, I don't care, just get her out of there!”

“Doctor, no,” Ariel muttered with wide eyes, gazing up at him. She didn’t know if they’d be together again after Rose had joined them, but she knew she couldn’t lose the Doctor too. She was losing her mother and her best friend in one day, she didn’t want to lose the man she loved to that list.

The sound of loud explosions echoed across the screen as the windows shattered on the Tardis from the impact of the molten core.

The Doctor spared Ariel a sad glance before turning back to the Red Dalek and raising an eyebrow.

“You are connected to the Tardis,” the Red Dalek said. “Now feel it die.”

The Doctor’s posture sank as he turned and realized he would not only have to face the death of the one thing he loved most in the universe, he have to witness his best friend dying inside of it.

“Total Tardis destruction in ten rels. Nine, eight, seven, six,” one of the Daleks announced and Rose walked up to the Doctor’s side and grabbed his hand, watching with him.

Jack nudged Ariel’s shoulder. “Go up to him,” Jack mumbled.

“No,” Ariel sighed. “He’s got her now. And that’s okay. That’s good. I can’t travel forever and he deserves to be happy,” she muttered. “If I survive this, can I come and work with you lot at Torchwood? I don’t think I can travel with him still when he’s with her. They’re brilliant together, but it would be too hard too watch.”

Jack nodded and smiled softly. “Of course,” he murmured.

“Five, four, three, two, one,” the Dalek finished and the Tardis vanished from the screen.

“The Tardis has been destroyed. Now tell me, Doctor. What do you feel? Anger? Sorrow? Despair?” The Red Dalek prompted, clearly enjoying making a fool of the Doctor.

“Yeah,” the Doctor breathed.

“Then if emotions are so important, surely we have enhanced you?” The Red Dalek taunted and Ariel clenched her jaw.

If she got the chance, she’d like to kill just that one Dalek. None of the others. She just wanted that singular Dalek erased from existence.

“Yeah?” Jack said loudly, pulling out a small revolver from his coat. “Feel this!” He snapped, shooting a single bullet at the Red Dalek. It bounced off of the Red Dalek like it was nothing.

“Exterminate!” The Red Dalek shouted.

“No!” Ariel screamed as right by her side, Jack was shot and fell to the ground with a thud.

Rose and Ariel ran up to him and they both stared at him with wide eyes. 

“Jack. Oh, my God. Oh, no,” Rose breathed.

“Rose, come here. Leave him,” the Doctor instructed, pulling Rose off of Jack.

When she had turned her back, Jack opened his eyes and winked at Ariel, she smirked and the Doctor noticed Jack still surviving. He sighed softly and Jack closed his eyes once again so the Daleks thought he was dead.

Ariel got up and gulped harshly, desperately fighting back watching as Rose buried her head in the Doctor’s chest and mourned Jack.

She tried not to think about the nights when she cried into the Doctor’s chest over all that she had lost and he had comforted her just as he was doing with Rose. Her brain seemed more than happy to torture her with those memories as she watched the pair.

“Escort them to the Vault,” the Red Dalek commanded. “They are the playthings of Davros now."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna make her hate Rose or Rose hate her, I really was. But as I was writing it I realized they're both too nice (as I said in the story) to hate someone over a guy and Rose certainly wouldn't hate someone over the same man twice. Not after Sarah Jane. 
> 
> Plus I love Rose too much to write about someone hating her. Trust me, it would seem much more unnatural if I was gonna write Ariel hating her. It just doesn't seem right.


	35. The Prophecy

As they were being escorted to the Vault, Ariel spotted the prisoners being escorted into the Crucible.

Ariel frowned as she looked through them and soon saw a woman with brown hair and a face that looked like an older version of her own.

Ariel’s heart stopped beating and her eyes widened.

“Mum?” Ariel breathed.

The woman turned to her with wide eyes and Ariel wanted to scream. She got to see her mother again. She got to look into her mother’s eyes and hug her once again.

Instinct taking over, she bolted up to the woman and wrapped her arms around her tightly.

“Oh, I never thought I’d see you again,” Ariel sighed.

“Ariel, don’t!” The Doctor yelled. He ran forward and tried to pull Ariel away but one of the Daleks swerved and stopped him from getting to her.

“The prisoners will remain in line until they reach the testing area,” the Dalek said. The entire line behind them stopped at the holdup while Ariel glanced at the Doctor and the Dalek desperately. She hadn’t meant to join the line of prisoners for testing. She had just wanted to hug her mother. 

Carol watched the exchange with wide eyes. Everytime she doubted how committed to her daughter these new friends were, her faith was always reaffirmed. She had seen what those Daleks could do to people and she couldn’t believe the Doctor was putting his life on the line to defy them.

“No, but she’s not a prisoner,” Rose said, running forward and trying to help. “She’s with us.”

“Yes, she’s with us,” the Doctor nodded. “We’re being taken to Davros.”

“Then she will join the prisoners in the testing area,” the Dalek said.

“No, you don’t understand. Your Supreme Dalek or whatever, the Red one who liked to yell a lot, ordered us to go down to Davros,” Ariel said.

“All prisoners who are not the Doctor may be spared for testing,” the Dalek said simply.

“Oh, God,” Ariel breathed. 

“Prisoners must resume forward march,” the Dalek ordered and the line carried on as Ariel was pushed into it.

“I’ll save you!” The Doctor yelled. “I’ll save you!” He promised before he and Rose were forced by the Dalek escorting them to keep moving.

Ariel inhaled sharply and turned to face the rest of the line as she carried on walking in front of her mother.

“We’ll get out of this, Mum,” Ariel nodded. “I promise. We’ll find a way out and back to the Doctor.”

“But can he save us, Ariel? Do you truly believe he can stop these creatures?” Carol asked.

“He’s done it before,” Ariel shrugged. “That first day I ran away with him, we faced the Daleks then too. He’s always defeated them. I have to believe that with everyone’s help he can defeat them again.”

“Who’s everyone?” Carol asked.

“Us,” Ariel nodded. “The Doctor’s friends. The people he trusts most in the universe. I gave us this name as the Children of Time,” she chuckled softly.

“You’ve changed so much since him,” Carol frowned. “I remember the days when you would spend months going nowhere, just staying in your room reading. When you weren’t reading, you were at the library or the bookshop picking up more,” she smiled. “I thought there was something so wrong with a girl who didn’t want any friends, but would much rather be alone with a good book.”

“I was scared if I had friends I would just ruin it,” Ariel shrugged.

“Now look at you,” Carol grinned. “More than ready to put your life on the line for the planet.”

“That’s what the Doctor showed me. He took me in and showed me how there needs to be someone willing to risk their lives, otherwise millions would die. Someone has to fight for those who can’t speak or just walk away,” Ariel nodded. “You have to be willing to say no sometimes because there usually isn’t anyone else who will do it.”

“I know I haven’t shown it a lot as you were growing up, but I am proud to be your mother. I was rude to you when you were doing as you pleased. I didn’t think you were a normal child, but now I see you just needed someone there for you and treating you with kindness. Someone to tell you that you could do it,” Carol nodded. 

Ariel smiled softly at her mother’s words. “I love you, Mum.”

“I love you too, sweetie.”

“Prisoners now on board the Crucible. They will be taken for testing,” the Dalek announced.

Just then, Ariel heard the faint whisper of a voice she recognized from the Subwave Network.

“One step closer to the Doctor,” Sarah murmured.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she spun around, continuing to walk backwards as she peered across the many faces to confirm what she had heard. Eventually she spotted the woman, brown hair and curious eyes gazing up at the ship beside a blonde woman and a man with dark hair and a shaved head.

“Sarah,” Ariel breathed. “Oh, God, yes!” Ariel exclaimed, pumping her first in the air.

Sarah seemed alarmed at the sound and looked through the crowd of faces, eyes widening as she spotted Ariel. “Ariel?!” Sarah exclaimed and waved her hand wildly through the air. She turned to the blonde woman and man and murmured something quickly to them.

Ariel grabbed her Mum’s hand and started moving through the line.

“Prisoners will remain in the line,” the Dalek snapped.

“Oh, hush up, I’m not leaving the line I’m just moving further along it you bloody thimble,” Ariel groaned.

The Dalek seemed to leave her alone after that while she pulled her mother down the line to Sarah and the two other people by her side.

“Where are we going?” Carol asked. 

“To some friends,” Ariel nodded.

“Friends of the Doctor?” Carol prompted. 

“Well, sort of. Yes, but we’re also all friends,” Ariel said.

They finally reached Sarah and the two other people and Ariel sighed in relief as they continued walking in the line.

“Oh, blimey am I happy to see you,” Ariel smirked.

“I could say the same,” Sarah nodded. “I see you’ve found your mother.”

“Yeah, but who are they?” Ariel asked, gesturing to the two people behind her.

“Jackie Tyler, Rose's mum. Now where the hell is my daughter?” The blonde woman asked.

“Rose,” Ariel breathed. “She’s with the Doctor,” Ariel nodded. “They went down to the Vault. It’s where the bloke who created the Daleks is but they won’t touch her. One of the Daleks over there said they’re protecting the Doctor and if you know the Doctor and her, he’ll make sure she’s safe. At least until we can get you down to her.”

Jackie nodded, her anxiety slightly at ease as she turned to introduce herself to Ariel’s mother.

“This is Mickey Smith,” Sarah introduced, waving the man with the shaved head forward.

“Hold on, Mickey Smith and Sarah Jane Smith?” Ariel prompted with a small smirked.

“Yeah,” Mickey chuckled as he shook Ariel’s hand. “Gotta love coincidence.”

“I think the Doctor told me about you,” Ariel nodded. “You’re bloody brilliant, you are.”

“Really?” Mickey frowned. “He said that.”

“He also mentioned all the times he called you an idiot and I hope an apology on his behalf will be enough. I know what it’s like to have everyone kinda disregard you,” Ariel nodded. “But you made something of it, and you’re amazing for doing so.”

“Yeah,” Mickey smiled. “You too,” he nodded.

Ariel grinned and the five of them walked together until they reached the holding area where dozens of people flooded inside. 

“Prisoners will stand in the designated area. Move! Move!” The Dalek hollered and Ariel winced. 

“Alright, blimey,” Ariel mumbled. They all marching into an open area. Ariel gazed around at it with wide eyes. It had all the makings of a mass murder. She had seen horror films.

They take them into a large area, give them no way to escape and surround them and then the Daleks get to leave and they don’t receive the same luxury.

“We have to get out of here,” Ariel breathed, knowing she was stating the obvious but needing to reaffirm it for herself.

Just as Sarah spotted a door out, a woman collapsed in front of Ariel, Jackie, and Carol.

“You will stand!” The Dalek snapped.

“I can’t,” the woman sobbed.

“You will stand!” The Dalek repeated.

Sarah started running toward the door before they could block it. “Mickey!” Sarah called.

Mickey spotted the door Sarah was running to and his eyes widened. He started running toward it automatically. “Jackie! Ariel!” Mickey cried.

The two women glanced at him and shared a wide eyed gaze as Mickey ran towards the door. They both wanted to leave, but the Dalek was right in front of them and they couldn’t leave that poor woman sobbing.

Ariel took a deep breath, making a snap decision in her mind and marching towards the Dalek.

“On your feet. On your feet!” The Dalek shouted.

“Oi, oi. Cool it!” Ariel snapped. She helped the woman to her feet and held her up straight so she wouldn’t have to worry about falling down. “Alright, then?” Ariel prompted, raising an eyebrow at the Dalek and silently egging it on.

The Dalek left and Ariel rolled her eyes. “Thought so,” she murmured.

Ariel turned back to the woman and kindly cupped her cheeks. “Are you alright?” She asked, her tone much more soft and kind.

“Yeah,” the woman nodded. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem,” Ariel smirked. She turned to face the door but found a Dalek standing right in front of it. She turned to Jackie who just sadly shook her head.

“Not a chance,” Jackie sighed.

“Prisoners will stand in the designated area,” the Daleks ordered.

“What?” Carol frowned. “What was it?” 

“That door,” Ariel said. “That was our way out.”

“And your daughter, bless her, wanted to protect the woman over her own life,” Jackie said and Carol smirked up at her daughter.

“None of that matters now,” Ariel shook her head. “We need to figure out a way out of here,” she muttered.

“What does it mean? What are they testing? What are they going to do?” The woman asked frantically.

Jackie looked up and her eyes widened. “I reckon it’s that thing there,” she said, pointing up at the big green glowing thing above their heads.

Ariel and Carol looked up with wide eyes.

“Oh, shit,” Ariel breathed.

Across the Crucible, in the Vault, the Doctor and Rose stared up at the holographic screen Davros had projected of the holding area.

“Hold on,” the Doctor frowned. “Is that Ariel?”

“No, it can’t be,” Rose shook her head.

“It is!” The Doctor exclaimed with wide eyes. “You can’t do this! Get her out of there!” 

“Oh, what a treat,” Davros hummed. “We have the last child of Gallifrey contained and now we may watch as he loses the woman he loves so very much.”

“That’s not-,” the Doctor began with wide eyes, glancing back at Rose. “No, she’s only eighteen!”

“And she will die, still a child of the universe. This is it, Doctor. My final victory. Watching as everything you love dies.”

However, in the holding cell, Mickey had other plans for the women. His dimension jumper had recharged, meaning Jackie’s had as well.

Jackie pulled out her dimension jumper with wide eyes and turned to Ariel and Carol.

Ariel sighed softly at the sight of it. She remembered what Jack had called the item that Rose had as well. It could get Jackie out of there. She could save herself. “Go,” Ariel nodded. “Find Rose.”

“What is it?” Carol frowned

Jackie gulped harshly and realized she had to put Ariel and Carol in a circumstance she would rather die than face herself. She took a deep breath and reached into her coat pocket, grabbing the one spare dimension jumper she had brought for Rose just in case.

Ariel’s heart stopped beating.

“You know what this does,” Jackie breathed. “And you know how many it carries.”

Ariel nodded. She remembered what Rose said. Rose had told them that she didn’t plan to leave. That meant that she would have to leave without them. The dimension jump only carried one person.

“What?” Carol frowned. “What is it?”

“It’s a dimension jump and you’re going to use it. It can get you out of here, but it only carries one. You’ll have to leave me here,” Ariel nodded.

“No!” Carol exclaimed. “I’m not leaving you to die!”

“Mum, I came in here to save you!” Ariel insisted. “I’m not just gonna leave you behind.”

“I’m not gonna go on without my daughter!” Carol snapped.

Ariel smiled softly, tears forming in her eyes. “It’s okay,” she sighed. “I’ll be okay,” she nodded. “I’ve seen so much. Things that people here go their whole lives without seeing the things I’ve seen. Doing the things I’ve done. I’ll die knowing I did those things.”

“Ariel,” Carol breathed, cupping her daughter’s cheek. “I was never the mother you deserved. Let me have this one chance to be that for you. You can carry on with this lot. You can fight. I can’t do that like you can. I’ve seen you. You’re a fighter now. This is a battle you can fight. I would be useless if I carried on with them. Wouldn’t understand a lick of it,” she smiled softly.

“I can’t go on without you,” Ariel said, choking back a sob.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Carol sighed. “Yes, you can,” she nodded. “I know you can. I’ve seen you. You’re brilliant. Like that man said, you can save the world.”

“But I’d have to do it without my Mum,” Ariel sniffled. “No, no you deserve to keep on moving.”

“I have such high hopes for you,” Carol mumbled, cupping her daughter’s cheek. “I hope you achieve all of them.” She nodded to Jackie. A silent understanding between mother’s. At the end of the day, no matter what. They would look out for their children. Even if it meant sacrificing themselves.

“Mum, no,” Ariel mumbled, crying as she watched her mother turn away. “I’m gonna do this, I-.”

Before she could finish her sentence, Jackie slung the dimension jump around Ariel’s neck and pressed the buttons on both of them.

They disappeared from the room and Carol smiled softly as she watched them reappear in the hallway just outside the door. She had finally been the mother she always wanted to be. Her daughter was safe. As she looking into the green glowing light above her head and as the light began to burn her skin, she knew that saving her daughter’s life was enough.

Outside the door, Ariel screamed, slamming her fists on the door and sobbing as Sarah Jane, Jackie, and Mickey all looked down in mourning. 

Ariel sobbed until she couldn’t breath, falling to the ground and covering her mouth as tears began to stream down her cheeks. A never ending waterfall.

She had lost everything.

Her parents were dead, Ross was dead, Donna was dead, the Doctor didn’t love her like her loved Rose. Everything she knew was gone.

As Ariel continued to cry, they all exchanged wary looks, unsure of what to say at a time like that. 

So, instead of saying anything, Mickey just took a deep breath and sat by her side, giving her all the comfort she needed.

A friend.

They sat like that for a while, none of them speaking for fear of upsetting Ariel or saying something unkind in her time in grieving. That was, until there was the sound of metal rumbling in the walls.

Ariel stood up with a small frown as she looked at the walling. As she did so, a small panel fell out and none other than Jack Harkness rolled out with scorch marks across his face. He scrambled up and Ariel grinned at the very sight of him.

“Jack!” Ariel exclaimed happily and wrapped him in a hug. 

“Hey,” Jack chuckled. “Did you find your mom?” He asked and Ariel pulled away with a sharp breath. Jack’s eyes immediately widened. He knew that face. He had seen it all too many times and worn it far too often. It was the face of a lamented girl, bearing the pain of the world much too early.

Jack sighed and wrapped his arms around her. “I am so sorry,” he sighed.

Ariel let out a shaky sigh into Jack’s chest, allowing herself to feel everything as she clung to him tightly. A man with a life as long as his? He knew pain. He would understand better than anyone with the possible disclusion of the Doctor.

When she pulled away, she sniffled and wiped her eyes. Jack placed his hand on her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. It was great if she had recovered and was ready to fight, but it was okay if she wasn’t.

Ariel took a deep breath and Jack smiled softly, wrapping her in one more quick hug before pulling away and narrowing his eyes at the other three.

“Just my luck,” Jack sighed. I climb through two miles of ventilation shafts, chasing life signs on this thing, and who do I find? Mickey Mouse,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

“You can talk, Captain Cheesecake,” Mickey scoffed.

The pair glared at each other for a single moment before bubbling into laughter and hugging each other tightly.

“Wha- You two know each other?!” Ariel exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Yeah,” Jack grinned. “‘Course we do,” he nodded before glancing down at Mickey. “And that’s Beefcake to you.”

“And that’s enough hugging,” Mickey nodded, pulling out of Jack’s arms.

“Ah, it’s good to see you,” Jack chuckled before turning to Sarah and smiling politely. “We meet at last, Miss Smith,” he nodded before frowning and turning back to Ariel. “Where’s the Doctor?”

“You missed him,” Ariel shook her head. “He’s in some place called the Vault with Davros. I never got to see it. I went in there,” she said, pointing towards the holding room. “To try and save my Mum.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jack nodded.

“S’Alright,” Ariel shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”

Jack turned to the other three with a small frown. “Well then, is there anything I can do for you lot?” He asked.

“There is something we can do,” Sarah nodded. “You've got to understand. I have a son down there on Earth. He's only fourteen years old. I've brought this,” she said, holding up what looked like a diamond necklace but observing the way it shined, Ariel guessed it was anything but. “It was given to me by a Verron Soothsayer. He said, this is for the End of Days,” she said, dropping the necklace in Jack’s hands.

“Is that a Warp Star?” Jack gasped.

Mickey and Ariel shared the same look of utter confusion.

“Gonna tell us what a Warp Star is?” Mickey prompted.

“A warpfold conjugation trapped in a carbonised shell,” Jack explained quickly. “It's an explosion, Mickey. An explosion waiting to happen.”

“So, what?” Ariel frowned. “You think we can just blow this thing out of the sky?!” Ariel exclaimed. “That’s genocide, Jack.”

“It’ll ensure that we don’t kill any humans either than ourselves and if we can threaten the Daleks with it, we might be able to free the Doctor,” Jack said. “It works,” he nodded. “We’re going with it.”

“Now, hold on!” Ariel snapped. “What if they don’t give up the Doctor? What then? Are you just gonna kill the rest of this bloody species?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“If that’s what it comes too, yeah,” Jack nodded. “The Doctor would understand.”

“No, no he wouldn’t,” Ariel muttered. “Because you know him, Jack. You know what he did during the Time War and you know how he regrets it with every fibre of his being. He would never wipe out an entire species again. He tried to save Davros in the Time War!”

“Well, then it’s a good thing we’re here to do it for him,” Jack nodded. “Step aside I have to wire this thing into the mainframe.”

“Jack!” Ariel snapped. “Are you seriously telling me you can wipe out all the Daleks just because right now that’s easiest?”

“I’ve done worse things,” Jack sighed. “Now move!” He ordered, growing angry with Ariel.

“You’re gonna have to make me,” Ariel said, glaring at him. She could come off as mean and threatening as well. “I’m not gonna let you but this blood on all of our hands.”

“So be it,” Jack nodded. He put the Warp Star in his pocket and Ariel sighed softly in relief.

That was, until Jack tossed her over his shoulder and put her in the far corner of the corridor. “Mickey, keep her there. Make sure she doesn’t interrupt,” he instructed.

“Jack, you can’t do this!” Ariel shouted as Mickey grabbed her arms and kept her held back. “Do you really want to kill a whole species?”

“I don’t have a choice,” Jack sighed as he pulled the Warp Star out of his pocket and began putting it through the wiring in the wall.

“You always have a choice,” Ariel breathed.

Jack just sighed softly and shook his head as he continued to work. Ariel watched him with teary eyes. She didn’t care about dying. That didn’t matter to her. She just didn’t want to die in the midst of a genocide that could’ve been avoided. It wasn’t right and she didn’t want to just stand by and watch.

Jack took a deep breath and pulled out a small camera, sending his transmission to the Dalek Vault.

“Jack, please just think about this,” Ariel pleaded.

“I have,” Jack nodded. “It’s our best shot,” he shrugged before turning to the camera.

Once he got the signal that his transmission was being received, he smirked and held the Warp Star into the camera. “Calling all Dalek boys and girls, are you receiving me?” Jack asked loudly, his usual charming confidence shining through. “Don't send in your goons, or I'll set this thing off,” he warned.

The camera captured everyone from Rose’s Mum to Mickey holding Ariel back in the corner as she struggled against him.

“He’s still alive. Oh, my God,” Rose gasped from the Vault. “That’s my Mum.”

“Ariel,” the Doctor smiled softly. “She’s alive.” The Doctor narrowed his eyes as he realized Ariel was fighting against Mickey, trying to stop something Jack was doing. “Mickey,” the Doctor mumbled. “Captain, what are you doing?” He asked.

“I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe. I break this shell, the entire Crucible goes up,” Jack said.

“You can’t!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“I told you!” Ariel snapped. “Oh, let go of me,” Ariel moaned. She pulled out of Mickey’s arms and sighed as she watched Jack.

“Where did you get a Warp Star?” The Doctor wondered.

“From me,” Sarah nodded. “We had no choice. We saw what happened to the prisoners,” she sighed. “Ariel’s mother was one of them.”

“And yet, I still don’t want you to open that Star, funny how things work out,” Ariel snapped.

“Impossible,” Davros gasped. “That face,” he said, staring up at Sarah. “After all these years.”

“Davros. It's been quite a while. Sarah Jane Smith. Remember?” Sarah said into the camera, staring daggers at Davros. 

“Oh, this is meant to be,” Davros chuckled. “The circle of Time is closing. You were there on Skaro at the very beginning of my creation,” he remembered.

“And I've learnt how to fight since then,” Sarah nodded. “You let the Doctor go, or this Warp Star, it gets opened.”

“That isn’t fighting!” Ariel exclaimed. “That’s blowing everything up! Oh, why won’t any of you listen to reason,” she groaned.

“I’ll do it,” Jack warned, clenching the Warp Star tightly in his hands. “Don't imagine I wouldn't.”

“Now, that’s what I call a ransom,” Rose chuckled. “Doctor?” She frowned at the Doctor looking down in regret.

He hadn’t shown people the beauty of the universe. He had forged killers.

Ariel’s heart sank. She didn’t even consider the emotions the Doctor must be feeling at that moment. She had only thought of how he would talk Jack down. She didn’t stop to think how much he would hate seeing his best friends trying to kill.

“Oh, my God, Doctor,” Ariel breathed.

“And the prophecy unfolds,” Davros announced.

“The Doctor's soul is revealed. See him. See the heart of him,” Dalek Caan laughed.

“The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun. But this is the truth, Doctor. You take ordinary people and you fashion them into weapons. Behold your Children of Time transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this,” Davros hummed.

“You leave him alone,” Ariel snapped.

“And what would you do to keep him safe? The woman fated to destroy time. What would she do to protect her precious, Doctor?” Davros prompted.

Ariel’s blood ran cold. What did that mean?  _ The woman fated to destroy time. _

“They’re trying to help,” the Doctor insisted.

“Already I have seen them sacrifice today, for their beloved Doctor. The Earth woman who fell opening the Subwave Network,” Davros sighed.

“Who was that?” The Doctor frowned and Ariel’s eyes widened. Nobody had told him about Harriet.

“Harriet Jones,” Rose sighed, becoming the bearer of bad news for the Doctor. “She gave her life to get you here.”

“How many more?” Davros wondered. “Just think. How many have died in your name?”

The Doctor flashed through all the people just so he could save others. Ariel’s mother was among those included in his flashes. There were far too many names to count and that was just considering the faces after the Time War. He couldn’t even begin to dwell as far as all the lives sacrificed for him before then.

“The Doctor. The man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not, out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you yourself,” Davros said proudly.

Ariel clenched her jaw. The Doctor didn’t deserve any of that. He had faced enough pain just for that day alone. He didn’t need more piled on.

“Enough,” the voice of the Supreme Dalek boomed through the Crucible. “Engage defence zero five.”

“No!” Ariel shrieked.

“It’s the Crucible or the Earth,” Martha warned, her voice echoing through their transmission in the corridor.

“Transmat engaged,” a Dalek announced.

Before Jack could even stop them by opening the Warp Star, they all disappeared from that spot and were beamed into a dingy cave-like room with the Doctor and Rose standing at one end of the room and Davros by their side.

Ariel tried to walk forward and stumbled a bit, Jack caught her before she could fall and smiled softly at her. “I’ve got you,” Jack nodded.

“Don’t move!” The Doctor cried. “All of you. Stay still!” He exclaimed, touching a force field surrounding him.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she noticed everyone around her; Jack, Martha, Mickey, Jackie and Sarah all remaining still as they saw the Doctor’s invisible prison.

“Guard them!” Davros hollered to his Daleks. “On your knees, all of you. Surrender!” He commanded.

The group all turned to the Doctor. A silent question ringing in the air from all of them.  _ Should they do as he said? _

The Doctor nodded. “Do as he says,” the Doctor instructed.

One by one, they all got down on their knees and placed their hands behind their head.

Rose stared at her mother sadly. “Mum, I told you not to,” Rose murmured.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t leave you,” Jackie shrugged.

“It’s a good thing she was there,” Ariel nodded. “She saved my life.”

Rose smiled softly and turned to her mother.  _ Thank you _ , Rose mouthed and Jackie simply nodded.

“Activate the holding cells,” Davros commanded and each of them had an invisible force field shone down on them and spotlights shining bright above their eyes. They all took their chance to touch the force field and Ariel wiped her fingers with a small frown at the electric shock that occurred when she touched the force field. “The final prophecy is in place. The Doctor and his children, all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek, the time has come. Now, detonate the Reality bomb!” Davros cried.

A holographic screen appeared by their side as they all looked up and saw the planets radiate with electricity.

“No,” Ariel breathed. Her mother’s dying wish. Save the Earth. She had failed her.

“You can't, Davros!” The Doctor cried. “Just listen to me! Just stop!” He yelled.

“Davros, please!” Ariel begged, placing her palms on the force field and pleading with the man, ignoring the electric shock that sent waves into her body as she touched the force field.

Davros simply laughed at both of them. “Nothing can stop the detonation. Nothing and no one!”

Appearing as though to just contradict what Davros’s arrogance had said, the most blissful sound echoed throughout the room.

A soft wheezing preluding a bright blue box, shining into existence.

“But that’s-,” the Doctor frowned.

“Impossible,” Davros breathed.

“It can’t be,” Ariel muttered.

The Tardis fully materialized and a man with the same silhouette and attire as the Doctor appeared in the doorway.

“Brilliant,” Jack smirked.

The man ran across the floor, revealing himself in the light to be an exact replica of the Doctor.

“No bloody way,” Ariel gasped.

“Don’t!” The Doctor cried.

Before the new Doctor could even get close enough to Davros, Davros lifted up his hand and zapped the new Doctor down with a shot of energy from his metallic fingers.

Whatever the new Doctor had been holding was tossed out of his hands as he fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

“Activate holding cell,” Davros said, seeming almost bored with their antics at that point. A flash of the force field beamed around the new Doctor as he scrambled to his feet and stared at other eight people Davros had imprisoned.

The Tardis door creaked once again and Ariel grinned as she spotted her best friend running out.

“Donna!” Ariel exclaimed with a laugh. “You’re alive!”

Donna grinned at the girl and ran forward to grab the gizmo the new Doctor had run out with. “Doctor!” Donna cried. “I've got it. But I don't know what to do!” She exclaimed, holding the gizmo awkwardly as she narrowed her eyes at it.

Davros just sighed and lifted up his hand, zapping Donna back across the floor. 

“No!” Ariel screamed.

“Donna!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Donna! Are you alright, Donna?” The Doctor asked frantically as he noticed Donna not getting back up.

“Destroy the weapon,” Davros commanded, the vigor from all his voice lost. He was tired of them.

One of the Daleks obeyed and the gizmo was destroyed before it could ever be used.

“I was wrong about your warriors, Doctor,” Davros nodded. “They are pathetic,” he sighed, glaring at all of the people who had come in after the doctor and Rose to try and save him.

“Oh, gee, thanks mate,” Ariel said sarcastically rolling her eyes. Within minutes they had gone from brave and daring, willing to risk their lives to save the world, to pathetic.

“How come there’s two of you?” Rose asked, frowning at the Doctor and the new Doctor.

“Yeah, since when did you take up cloning?” Ariel asked.

“Human biological metacrisis,” the Doctor shrugged. “Never mind that. Now we've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb.”

They all gazed up at the screen with wide eyes as all twenty-seven planets glowed with electricity.

“Detonation in twenty rels. Nineteen.”

“Stand witness, Time Lord. Stand witness, humans. Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and. Oh. The end of the universe has come,” Davros chuckled.

Ariel winced as she looked at the screen. She wanted to do more. She wanted to do something, but she was stuck in that stupid little prison. The most she could do was yell at him and that clearly had no effect.

“Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”

Before the universe could visibly implode, an alarm sounded across the Crucible. Everyone, even Davros, looked up and frowned in confusion.

Like a miracle, Donna popped up from a control panel beside the Tardis.

“Mmm, closing all Z-neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop. That button there,” Donna grinned, pointing to a button on the panel Davros had thrown her against.

“Blimey, Donna,” Ariel breathed.

“System in shutdown!” A Dalek announced loudly.

“Detonation negative!” Another Dalek cried.

“Explain. Explain. Explain!” The Supreme Dalek shouted.

“Donna, you can't even change a plug,” the Doctor breathed, staring at her with wide eyes.

“You wanna bet, Time Boy?” Donna chuckled.

“Oh, you go, Donna!” Ariel exclaimed with a laugh and the redhead beamed at her.

“You’ll suffer for this?” Davros hissed, holding up his hand and threatening to zap her and Donna didn’t even look fazed.

Donna lifted a lever and rather than hitting Donna with his electrical zap, the energy travelled up Davros’s arm and he wound up zapping himself.

Ariel snorted as she watched him fall back in his seat, groaning in pain. Now, he knew what it felt like to all the people he had zapped carelessly.

“Oh, bio-electric dampening field with a retrograde field arc inversion,” Donna smirked with a small shrug and Ariel and the Doctor stared at her with wide eyes. The Donna they knew was terrible with technology and yet there she was rattling off terms most of them couldn’t understand sounding a lot like the Doctor.

“Exterminate her!” Davros roared, pointing a shaky finger at Donna.

The Daleks seemed to just realize what was going on and headed out towards Donna. “Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate,” they all chanted.

However, before they could reach her, Donna worked some more controls on the panel, smirking at the Daleks as she did so.

When she finished, all the Daleks froze in their places tilting their guns curiously.

“Weapons non-functional,” one of the Daleks announced and Ariel laughed.

“Oh, way to go,  Donna!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Phwor,” Donna sighed. “Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix,” she grinned.

“How did you work that out?” The Doctor frowned. “You’re-,” he began, his eyes widening as he realized.

“What?” Ariel prompted. “What? What is it?”

“Time Lord,” the new Doctor replied. “Part Time Lord,” he nodded at them.

Ariel’s eyes widened. “No,” she breathed.

“Part human,” Donna grinned and nodded. “Oh, yes,” she sighed. “That was a two-way biological metacrisis. Half Doctor, half Donna.”

“Wait, that’s like-,”  Ariel began, glancing at the two Doctors, remembering how the Ood were very careful to say The Doctor Donna and Ariel. They combined the names, now they knew why.

“The Doctor Donna,” the Doctor nodded. “Just like the Ood said, remember?” He prompted Donna and the new Doctor. “They saw it coming. The Doctor Donna,” he sighed.

“Holding cells deactivated,” Donna announced as there was a flash of their force fields and the spotlights over their heads died down. “And seal the Vault. Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits. Get to work,” Donna laughed.

The Doctor and the new Doctor shared a look before both chuckling and running up to the control panel with Donna.

“That’s our cue!” Jack exclaimed. He ran inside the Tardis to grab their guns. 

“Stop them!” Davros shouted. “Get them away from the controls,” he ordered his Daleks.

Before they could even arrive, Donna grinned and put her hand back down on a small wheel on the controls. “And spin,” Donna smiled, spinning the wheel and consequently watching the Daleks begin to spin.

“Help me! Help me!” The Daleks shrieked.

“And the other way,” Donna smirked, spinning the wheel in the opposite direction and watching as the Daleks did the same.

“What did you do?” The new Doctor frowned. 

“Trip switch circuit-breaker in the psychokinetic threshold manipulator,” Donna shrugged as though it was nothing.

“But that’s brilliant!” The new Doctor exclaimed. 

“Why did we never think of that?” The Doctor wondered with a small grin.

“Because you two were just Time Lords, you dumbos, lacking that little bit of human. That gut instinct that comes hand in hand with Planet Earth. I can think of ideas you two couldn't dream of in a million years. Ah, the universe has been waiting for me. Now, let's send that trip switch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you, best temp in Chiswick? Hundred words per minute,” Donna beamed.

“Ha!” The new Doctor exclaimed.

“Come on then, boys,” Donna hummed. “We've got twenty seven planets to send home. Activate magnetron.”

“Stop this at once!” Davros hollered.

Jack finally ran back out of the Tardis and carried two giant guns. “Mickey!” Jack called and tossed one of the guns to him. Jack walked up to Ariel and held out the other. “What do you think? Wanna try your hand?”

“I told you,” Ariel shook her head. “I can’t carry weapons,” she shook her head. “I don’t-,” she began and Jack placed his hand on her shoulder.

“If you’re gonna work with Torchwood, you’re gonna have to carry weapons,” Jack smirked. “But it’s alright. I’ll show you. For now, all you have to do is keep Davros in his place. I’m gonna help Rose,” he nodded and handed her the gun.

Ariel inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. She didn’t have to kill anyone. She didn’t have to be anxious about what might happen at her hands.  She could do this. 

Ariel took a deep breath and smirked, moving to Mickey’s side and pointing the gun at Davros, both of them pointing their guns at him and stopping him from heading over to the Doctors and Donna.

“Just stay where you are, mister,” Mickey said.

“Out of the way!” Jack exclaimed as he kicked a Dalek down the corridor. It continued spinning and Jack pulled out his revolver to shook the Daleks in the eyestalks.

“Oh, this is meant to be,” Davros chuckled. “The woman fated to destroy time falling into her true self before my very eyes.”

“What the hell does that mean?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Leave it, Ariel,” Mickey sighed. “He’s just trying to get in your head.

“Yeah, well it’s working,” Ariel mumbled.

“Good to see you again!” Sarah exclaimed, grinning at Rose as the pair grabbed hold of one of the Daleks.

“Oh, you too,” Rose smiled just before they pushed one of the Daleks down the corridor.

“Ready?” Donna prompted the two Doctors and they both nodded. “And reverse,” Donna sighed. 

They pulled out pairs of rods in the panel, one by one sending the planets back home.

“Off you go, Clom!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Back home, Adipose Three,” the new Doctor smiled.

“Shallacatop, Pyrovillia and the Lost Moon of Poosh. Sorted. Ha!” Donna laughed.

“Ha!” The new Doctor echoed, grinning at her.

“We need more power!” The Doctor cried.

All of them ran up to the Doctors and Donna, all having the same question on their minds which Rose voiced beautifully.

“Is anyone going to tell us what's going on?” Rose asked, frowning at the trio.

“He poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand,” Donna explained, pointing at the original Doctor who grinned and waved at them. “I touched the hand, and he grew out of that but that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head till the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros! Part human, part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind,” she smiled softly.

“So there’s three of you?” Sarah clarified.

“Three Doctors?” Rose prompted.

“I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now,” Jack chuckled.

“Bet I could rival that,” Ariel smirked.

“You're so unique the timelines were converging on you,” the Doctor grinned down at Donna. “Human being with a Time Lord brain,” he hummed.

“But you promised me, Dalek Caan,” Davros hissed. “Why did you not foresee this?” He wondered.

Dalek Caan just giggled gleefully.

“Oh, someone’s been keeping secrets,” Ariel smirked.

“I think he did,” the Doctor nodded with a small smile. “Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages, getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time,” he muttered.

Davros stared at Dalek Caan with wide eyes, horrified at the betrayal.

“This would always have happened. I only helped, Doctor,” Dalek Caan said simply.

“You betrayed the Daleks,” Davros breathed.

“I saw the Daleks. What we have done, throughout time and space, I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed, no more!” Dalek Caan cried.

“I will descend to the Vault,” the Supreme Dalek announced loudly.

Jack grabbed the gun from Ariel and aimed it at the Supreme Dalek. “Heads up!” Jack hollered. 

Mickey’s eyes widened and he aimed his gun at the Supreme Dalek as it descended down to the floor.

“Davros, you have betrayed us,” the Supreme Dalek said.

“Oh, someone’s in trouble,” Ariel mumbled.

“It was Dalek Caan,” Davros insisted.

“The Vault will be purged. You will all be exterminated,” the Supreme Dalek said and shot at the control panel they were all standing beside.

Jack smirked. “Like I was saying, feel this!” Jack yelled and shot the Supreme Dalek. 

Ariel grinned. “I’ve wanted to kill that thing every since it started talking to us,” Ariel murmured and Jack chuckled.

“How do you think I felt? That thing killed me,” Jack sighed.

“Fair point,” Ariel shrugged.

“Oh, we've lost the magnetron,” the Doctor sighed as he peered at the control panel the Supreme Dalek shot. “And there's only one planet left. Oh, guess which one,” he chuckled. “But we can use the Tardis!” The Doctor exclaimed before running inside the Tardis to change the controls.

“Holding Earth stability. Maintaining atmospheric shell,” the new Doctor nodded.

“The prophecy must complete,” Dalek Caan said.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ariel frowned.

“Don’t listen to him,” Davros said.

“I have seen the end of everything Dalek, and you must make it happen, Doctor,” Dalek Caan said.

“He's right,” the new Doctor nodded with wide eyes. “Because with or without a Reality bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos. They've got to be stopped.”

“You can’t do that,” Ariel breathed.

“Just wait for the Doctor,” Donna said.

“I am the Doctor,” the new Doctor snapped. “Maximising Dalekanium power feeds. Blasting them back!” He shouted.

The new Doctor reached for the controls and Ariel ran forward.

“Don’t!” Ariel screamed, but before she could pull him away, he launched the controls and she fell backwards as the Crucible shook and Daleks around them exploded.

Jack helped Ariel to her feet and she coughed as sparks shot out from around them and the smoke of the exploded Daleks began to clog the air.

The Doctor ran out of the Tardis and stared at the sight with wide eyes. “What have you done?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

The new Doctor turned to the original with wide eyes. “Fulfilling the prophecy.”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I left a bit of foreshadowing for the next part in this series in this chapter. The girl fated to destroy time. I can't wait.


	36. The Most Important Woman In The Universe

“Do you know what you've done?!” The Doctor exclaimed wildly. “Now get in the Tardis! Everyone! All of you, inside! Run!” He snapped.

Ariel and Jack shared a look before all of them, even the new Doctor, bolted inside.

“In! In! In!” The Doctor yelled.

They ran inside and the new Doctor waved them towards the console as the Crucible exploded around them.

“Sarah Jane!” The new Doctor exclaimed upon her entrance into the Tardis. “Rose! Jackie! Jack! Ariel! Mickey!”

Outside the Tardis, the explosions of the dying Daleks were beginning to wreck the Vault and Davros peered through them at the Doctor.

“Davros?” The Doctor prompted. “Come with me. I promise I can save you,” he said, extending his hand out to his lifelong enemy.

“Never forget, Doctor, you did this!” Davros shouted. “I name you. Forever, you are the Destroyer of the Worlds!” He cried before a wall of flames jumped up and blocked their vision from each other.

Davros cried out his last dying scream as the flames consumed him.

“One will still die,” Dalek Caan warned, somehow unaffected by the explosions surrounding him.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and ran inside, slamming the doors of the Tardis shut behind him.

“And off we go!” The Doctor exclaimed.

The Tardis dematerialized just as the Crucible they left behind exploded, destroying the new Dalek Empire.

“But what about the Earth?” Sarah wondered, frowning at the Doctor. “It's stuck in the wrong part of space,” she reminded him.

“I'm on it,” the Doctor nodded, pulling the Tardis screen to him. “Torchwood Hub, this is the Doctor. Are you receiving me?”

“Loud and clear,” the voice of Gwen Cooper rang out through the Tardis.

“She’s alive!” Ariel exclaimed with a grin, looking up at Jack.

“Yes!” Jack cried, laughing happily.

“Are Jack and Ariel there?” Gwen asked.

The Doctor chuckled and peered at the two in a happy daze over the fact that Torchwood had survived the attack. “Can’t get rid of them,” the Doctor smirked. “Jack, Ariel, what’s her name?”

“Gwen,” Jack said.

“Gwen Cooper,” Ariel nodded.

“Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?” The Doctor asked with a small frown, waving Rose to his side so she could look at the screen.

“Yes, all the way back to the eighteen hundreds,” Gwen said.

“Ah, thought so,” the Doctor hummed, nodding at the screen. “Spatial genetic multiplicity,” he smiled at Rose waving to the screen.

“Oh, yeah,” Rose grinned.

Ariel sighed and turned away. She knew that was how it was bound to be throughout the future. Rose and the Doctor bonding over past adventures and forging new ones and she would be in Torchwood, trying everything to forget about the Doctor.

“Yeah, it's a funny old world,” the Doctor chuckled before taking a deep breath and turning back to the screen. “Now, Torchwood, I want you to open up that Rift Manipulator. Send all the power to me,” he instructed.

“Doing it now, sir,” Ianto nodded.

Ariel smiled, sighing softly. They had both survived the Dalek attack. They were safe. She didn’t have to mourn any more people.

“What’s that for?” Donna wondered, frowning at the Doctor.

“It's a tow rope,” the Doctor replied. “Now then. Sarah, what was your son's name?” He asked.

“Luke,” Sarah nodded. “He's called Luke. And the computer's called Mister Smith,” she added.

The Doctor nodded. “Calling Luke and Mister Smith,” the Doctor said into his screen. “This is the Doctor,” he announced. “Come on, Luke. Shake a leg.”

“Is Mum there?” Luke asked.

“Oh, she’s fine and dandy,” the Doctor smiled.

Sarah laughed joyfully and pumped her fists in the air. “Yes! Yes!” Sarah exclaimed.

Ariel smiled at her. It seemed they all got the chance to celebrate someone surviving the attack.

“Now, Mister Smith, I want you to harness the Rift power and loop it around the Tardis,” the Doctor instructed. “You got that?” He prompted.

“I regret I will need remote access to Tardis base code numerals,” Mister Smith said.

The Doctor pulled back and raked his fingers through his hair with a small frown. “Oh, blimey, that’s going to take a while,” the Doctor mumbled.

“No, no, no,” Sarah said, running up to the Doctor’s side and peering into the screen. “Let me. K9, out you come!” She called and Ariel smiled softly.

Ariel had once asked the Doctor if he’d ever had a pet, thinking of her own dog back home. He had told her the story of his robotic dog, K9. She had laughed back then, thinking how it was obvious that if he were to take care of an animal, of course it would be a machine.

“Affirmative, Mistress,” K9 said.

“Oh! Oh ho!” The Doctor laughed, grinning at the screen. “Oh, good dog!” He exclaimed. “K9, give Mister Smith the base code,” he instructed.

“Master. Tardis base code now being transferred. The process is simple,” K9 said.

“Now then, you lot,” the Doctor sighed, moving away from the screen and walking around the Tardis to instruct each of them. “Sarah, hold that down. Mickey, you hold that. Because you know why this Tardis always is always rattling about the place? Rose? That, there. It's designed to have seven pilots, and I have to do it single handed,” he shrugged.

“Martha, keep that level. But not any more. Jack, there you go. Steady that. Ariel, hold that down. Now we can fly this thing,” the Doctor grinned, but froze when he approached Jackie. “No, Jackie. No, no. Not you. Don't touch anything. Just stand back,” he sighed and Jackie nodded, taking a single step back as he continued on his way, carrying on speaking as though nothing had happened. “Like it's meant to be flown. We've got the Torchwood Rift looped around the Tardis by Mister Smith, and we're going to fly Planet Earth back home. Right then. Off we go,” the Doctor beamed at all of them.

He ran back to his part of the tardis and started the engines and together they all flew the Earth through the sky and back home where it belonged.

Donna walked through the Tardis smiling at each of them as they flew it while the new Doctor sat back and watched with a grin.

“That's really good, Jack,” Donna nodded. “I think you're the best,” she smirked at him and Ariel snorted as she watched the redhead go up to the new Doctor’s side.

“Think she’s got a crush on you,” Ariel remarked with a small laugh.

Jack chuckled and shook his head.

They flew the Tardis right back to the moon and everyone celebrated as the Earth was dropped off and the Tardis began drifting through space.

“Good job!” Jackie exclaimed, laughing and celebrating with them.

They all celebrated happily, laughing and hugging each other at the fact that they had each made it out alive and were able to save the Earth. Ariel hugged Jack, then turned to hug Mickey and Martha. She giggled as she watched Donna pull Sarah off of Jack and hug him herself.

Sarah just looked blindsided so Ariel walked up and gave her a hug, explaining Donna quickly as Sarah laughed.

The Doctor sighed and stood in front of them all. “Right then, you lot. Let’s get you all home,” he hummed and they all grinned up at him.

The Doctor flew them back to a random park on Earth and landed just out of eyesight as everyone was running around celebrating the return of the Earth.

Ariel glanced over at Jack and he nodded to her. If she was going to take the job with him, they had to go.

Ariel took a deep breath and walked up to the Doctor as Rose talked to her Mum.

“I guess this is goodbye,” Ariel sighed. 

“What?” The Doctor frowned.

“You’ve got Rose and Donna to travel with now,” Ariel nodded. “You won’t be needing me,” she shrugged.

“What do you mean?” The Doctor shook his head.

“I’ve been offered a job at Torchwood,” Ariel said and the Doctor’s eyes widened.

“Well, it that’s what you want,” the Doctor mumbled awkwardly.

“I’m not saying that’s what I want Doctor,” Ariel shook her head. “I’m saying that you can be with Rose and I won’t be some odd burden sticking around.”

“You were never a burden,” the Doctor frowned.

“But I will be,” Ariel nodded. “If I stick around while you’re traveling with Rose. And even if I’m not to you, I’ll feel like it,” she shrugged.

The Doctor glanced at Rose warily and sighed softly. “We should talk outside,” he said. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and guided her just outside the door.

Ariel stood back and watched with a small frown as he closed the door and made sure Rose hadn’t noticed their absence.

“What is it?” Ariel asked. “If you’re gonna try and convince me to stay traveling with you and Rose like she wanted I’m just gonna say right now I can’t do that, Doctor. It would be toto hard. I’m sorry.”

“No,” the Doctor smiled softly. “That’s not it.”

“Then what, because Jack says that if I-,” Ariel began but was cut off by the Doctor pressing his lips against hers firmly. Ariel allowed herself to melt into the kiss for a single moment, feeling the swarm of emotions hat she had missed so much when the Doctor’s lips were against hers. She would miss everything about him. The way her heart fluttered in her chest when he kissed her. The feeling of her hands running through his silky brown hair. The taste of mint on his tongue. She wanted to memorize everything about him. Every single inch. She didn’t want to let go, but she knew she had to when she pulled away with a sigh.

“You can’t do that,” Ariel shook her head. “You’re gonna be with Rose now.”

“Rose is going home,” the Doctor said.

At those four words, Ariel faltered, frowning up at him. “What?” Ariel prompted.

“She’s going back to the parallel world before the dimensions restore themselves. I’m sending her back home.”

“You’re joking,” Ariel shook her head, staring at the Doctor with wide eyes.

“She has to take care of the other Doctor. Nobody can do it like her. She helped me when I was battle scarred just after I committed genocide, she can do the same for him,” the Doctor nodded.

“Are you serious?”  Ariel breathed.

“Completely,” the Doctor nodded.

Ariel stared up at him with wide eyes and a grin before pulling his lips back down to hers and kissing him wildly, her heart thrumming loudly in her ears as she pressed all the elatement she felt rushing through her veins.

Sarah walked out and smiled softly at them. “Am I interrupting something?” Sarah chuckled and Ariel pulled away from the Doctor with pink cheeks. Sarah just laughed and shook her head. “I’m glad the pair of you could work things out. You deserve a woman like her, Doctor,” Sarah smirked. “You know, you act like such a lonely man. But look at you. You've got the biggest family on Earth,” she sighed.

Sarah hugged the Doctor and turned to Ariel. “You too,” Sarah nodded. “I’m sorry about your mother, but you’ve still got a great big family in there ready to support you. You haven’t lost it all,” she assured her and the women hugged.

“Thank you, Sarah,” Ariel smiled. “Tell Luke I said hi.”

Sarah’s eyes widened as she realized she had to get moving. “Oh!” Sarah exclaimed then laughed as she started running down the pavement. “Got to go. He's only fourteen. It's a long story. And thank you!” She called before running off.

The Doctor smiled softly and wrapped his arm around Ariel’s shoulders and she sighed in the familiar comfort of his arms around her.

As she left, Jack walked out and sighed as he saw the Doctor’s arm around Ariel.

“So, I guess this means you’re not joining the team?” Jack prompted.

“Guess not,” Ariel shrugged, smiling softly up at the Doctor. “Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s not a big deal,” Jack muttered. “I should probably be getting back to them anyway,” he nodded.

Before he could leave, the Doctor held up a hand to stop him. “Now hold on just a minute,” the Doctor said and Jack sighed.

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy,” Jack mumbled and Ariel snickered.

“How exactly did this happen?” The Doctor asked, gesturing to Jack and Ariel. “How did you find Ariel?”

“Well, he was in that bar. He found me in the booth and when I found out he was Jack Harkness, I told him everything,” Ariel nodded.

“Yeah, and push came to shove and we wound up back on Earth tracking you down,” Jack shrugged and tried to leave once again but the Doctor stopped him. Jack knew full well that the Doctor planned on taking apart his teleport once again after he had worked for months to get it fixed.

“Jack,” the Doctor said, the tone of warning creeping into his voice.

Jack sighed and turned to find the Doctor glaring at him. “Y’know, rage isn’t a good look on you,” Jack remarked.

“Jack!” The Doctor snapped.

“I’ve had the teleport working for two months now,” Jack sighed. “Happy?” He prompted as Martha walked out and frowned at the three of them.

The Doctor sighed softly and pulled out his sonic, waving Jack forward. He unmended Jack’s teleport bracelet while Ariel snickered.

“I told you, no teleport,” the Doctor scolded. He put his sonic back in his coat and Jack just rolled his eyes at the Doctor. The Doctor turned to Martha and took a deep breath. “And, Martha, get rid of that Osterhagen thing, eh? Save the world one more time,” he advised.

“Consider it done,” Martha nodded.

The pair saluted the Doctor and the Doctor rolled his eyes but returned it, deciding he would rather salute his friends, people who try not to kill. Martha pulled Ariel into a hug.

“I’ll be seeing you around, yeah?” Martha prompted.

“Of course,” Ariel grinned. “You can’t get rid of me yet,” she nodded.

Martha chuckled and Jack walked up to the young brunette. Jack pulled her into a tight hug.

“Just because you’re not working for me doesn’t mean I’m losing track of you,” Jack insisted. “You’ve got my number?”

“You practically stole my phone and put it inside at the Hub, Jack,” Ariel giggled. “Yes, I’ve still got your number.”

“Good,” Jack grinned and nodded. “Then, I’ll be seeing you,” he said before waving at the pair of them and walking down the pavement.

“He gave you his number?” The Doctor frowned.

“Yeah,” Ariel sighed. “He gave me some pizza then stole my phone off the table and typed it in,” she shrugged. “I didn’t exactly object. I was eating.”

The Doctor just laughed and pulled Ariel close, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Just then, the door creaked and Mickey stepped out.

“Erm, what are you doing?” Ariel frowned.

“Where are you going?” The Doctor asked.

“Well, I'm not stupid. I can work out what happens next. And hey, I had a good time in that parallel world, but my gran passed away. Nice and peaceful. She spent her last years living in a mansion. There's nothing there for me now, certainly not Rose,” Mickey shrugged.

“What will you do?” The Doctor wondered.

“Anything. Brand new life. Just you watch,” Mickey grinned.

Ariel smiled at him. “Can I make a suggestion? I know Torchwood and Unit are hiring and from what I’ve seen, you’re one hell of a fighter. They could use a man like you. Who knows? Maybe you could wind up working with Martha or Jack?” Ariel suggested with a small shrug.

“Yeah,” Mickey smirked. “That’s definitely a good idea,” Mickey nodded. “I’ll give it a shot. In the meantime, good luck with that one,” he chuckled.

Ariel laughed and the Doctor frowned. “Oi, what’s that mean?” The Doctor said.

Mickey just laughed and shook his head. “See you, boss,” Mickey sighed, before turning to Jack and Martha who were still visible in the distance. “Hey, you two!” He called, running up to the pair of them.

They both turned and Jack seemed visibly irritated by the sight of Mickey as he ran up to them. 

Ariel laughed and shook her head. The Doctor smiled softly at her. “Ready for the last trip?” He prompted.

“No,” Ariel breathed. “Rose seemed nice and I know you love her. I’m gonna hate watching her go.”

“You know it has to be done,” the Doctor said. “We can’t have the other Doctor wandering around after he just committed genocide and I certainly can’t take care of him.”

Ariel sighed softly and nodded. “I know,” she mumbled and they headed inside.

“Just time for one more trip,” the Doctor nodded. “Därleg Ulv Stranden,” he sighed as he plugged into the coordinates. “Better known as Bad Wolf Bay,” he hummed.

Ariel took a deep breath and walked over to Donna’s side smiling at her kindly.

“How are you?” Donna asked. “You’ve been through quite a bit,” she remarked.

“I could say the same about you,” Ariel smirked. “The Doctor Donna, huh?”

Donna chuckled. “Yeah,” she sighed. “It’s a bit much to even process. The entire Time Vortex in my mind. I can see everything All that ever was. All that ever could be.”

“Like the Doctor,” Ariel breathed, frowning at her. That sort of pressure caused the Doctor so much pain. She could see it on him everyday. He hated seeing that and yet Donna seemed to be coping fairly well. It was either that or she was just masking the pain it was causing extremely well.

Donna nodded with a grin plastered across her face. “But never mind me, are you alright?

Ariel looked up at the Doctor and sighed. “I will be,” Ariel nodded.

They landed on Bad Wolf Bay and the Doctor announced their arrival happily.

The new Doctor and Jackie were the first ones out and Donna, Rose, and Ariel all followed.

“Oh, fat lot of good this is,” Jackie moaned. “Back of beyond. Bloody Norway?” Jackie scoffed.

“This is Norway,” Ariel frowned, peering around. “Blimey,” she hummed.

“I'm going to have to phone your father,” Jackie sighed to Rose. “He's on the nursery run. I was pregnant, do you remember? Had a baby boy,” she smiled at the new Doctor.

“Oh, brilliant,” the new Doctor grinned. “What did you call him?”

“Doctor,” Jackie nodded.

The new Doctor’s eyes widened and he smiled seeming so touched by the very thought. “Really?” He prompted.

“No, you plum,” Jackie chuckled. “He’s call Tony,” she shrugged.

Ariel snickered. “I told you Doctor was a strange name for a mother to call her child. I said it from the moment I met you,” she sighed and the new Doctor just rolled his eyes.

“Hold on, this is the parallel universe, right?” Rose frowned, turning back to the original Doctor.

“You’re back home,” the Doctor nodded.

“And the walls of the world are closing again, now that the Reality Bomb never happened. It's dimensional retroclosure. See, I really get that stuff now,” Donna smiled.

“No, but I spent all that time trying to find you. I'm not going back now,” Rose insisted.

“I’m so sorry, Rose,” Ariel breathed. “I didn’t like the idea of you going back either,” she told her honestly.

“But you've got to,” the Doctor nodded. “Because we saved the universe, but at a cost. And the cost is him,” he said, nodding to the new Doctor. “He destroyed the Daleks. He committed genocide. He's too dangerous to be left on his own.”

The new Doctor gazed at him with wide eyes, seeming to be blindsided by the Doctor’s statement. “You made me,” the new Doctor reminded him.

“Exactly,” the Doctor nodded. “You were born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge. Remind you of someone?” He prompted, turning to Rose and raising an eyebrow. “That's me, when we first met. And you made me better. Now you can do the same for him,” he said, smiling softly.

“But he’s not you,” Rose mumbled, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Ariel winced. She hated seeing Rose suffer life that because she knew if it were her, she would feel the same pain Rose was experiencing.

“He needs you,” the Doctor sighed. “That’s very me.”

Ariel winced. It wasn’t exactly easy listening to the man you loved tell another woman that he loved and needed her right in front of you.

“Rose, you deserve to be with the Doctor,” Ariel muttered. “He is the Doctor,” she nodded.

“But it's better than that, though,” Donna smirked, stepping forward. “Don't you see what he's trying to give you? Tell her. Go on,” she nodded to the new Doctor.

Rose turned to the new Doctor with tears streaming down her cheeks and a small frown across her lips.

“I look like him and I think like him. Same memories, same thoughts, same everything,” the new Doctor said. “Except I've only got one heart,” he sighed.

“Which means?” Rose murmured.

“I'm part human,” the new Doctor told her. “Specifically, the aging part. I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life, Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you, if you want,” he shrugged and Ariel smiled softly.

He was like the Doctor in every way. He even acted like the Doctor when faced with a relationship. It was adorable for her to watch.

“You'll grow old at the same time as me?” Rose asked, sniffling as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Together,” the new Doctor nodded.

“You can have a stable life with the Doctor,” Ariel smiled at Rose. If she was honest, she would’ve loved to get a stable life with the Doctor as well some time in the future.

One day it might be nice to be able to get away from all the fighting and question of survival. 

She knew it would never happen anytime soon and she was happy with that. She didn’t mind running with the Doctor for a few more years.

Just then, the time motor in the Tardis revved announcing their impending departure.

“We've got to go” the Doctor sighed. “This reality is sealing itself off forever,” he said.

“But, it's still not right, because the Doctor's still you,” Rose frowned, glancing at the two Doctors.

“And I’m him,” the Doctor nodded to the new Doctor.

“Alright,” Rose said, taking a deep breath and glancing at the pair of them “Both of you, answer me this. When I last stood on this beach, on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me? Go on, say it,” she nodded.

The Doctor gulped harshly and glanced at Ariel who smiled sweetly and waved at him, blissfully unaware of what had happened that day on the beach.

The Doctor took a deep breath and turned back to Rose. “I said Rose Tyler,” he told her.

“Yeah,” Rose nodded. “And how was that sentence going to end?” She prompted.

The Doctor thought of how upset Ariel looked when she glanced up at him and told him she was leaving so he could be with Rose. He sighed softly.

“Does it need saying?” The Doctor shrugged.

Rose narrowed her eyes at him and turned to the new Doctor. “And you, Doctor?” Rose prompted. “What was the end of that sentence?” She asked.

The new Doctor leant forward and whispered the three little words in her ear and in a split second, she pulled him forward by his suit and crushed his lips against hers.

Ariel smiled softly at the pair and the Doctor sighed as he turned away and held out his hand to Ariel.

“Come on,” the Doctor nodded. “We’ve still got one more thing to take care of,” he said.

Ariel watched as Donna walked into the Tardis before them, spinning around in the console room and she nodded. “I know,” Ariel sighed.

Ariel wasn’t sure what would happen next but she knew that Donna couldn’t hold the Time Vortex in her mind. Even if it didn’t show yet, it would start seriously hurting her. It pained the Doctor, who knew what it would do to Donna?

They headed inside and before the Doctor could even start up the Tardis, Donna did it for him and happily strutted through the console room. Ariel stared at her with teary eyes while the Doctor sat back and watched with a sigh.

“Where should we go next?” Donna prompted. “I thought we could try the planet Felspoon. Just because. What a good name, Felspoon. Apparently, it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine?” She smiled.

“And how do you know that?” The Doctor asked.

“Because it's in your head,” Donna shrugged. “And if it's in your head, it's in mine,” she grinned.

“And how does that feel?” The Doctor asked.

Ariel knew how it was supposed to feel. The Doctor wasn’t shy about how painful it had been when she asked him after the planet of the Ood. She had genuinely wanted to know what else he could hear, see, or feel that they couldn’t and although he had been worried about making her pity him, he told her everything. She knew how much pain her went through.

“Brilliant! Fantastic! Molto bene! Great big universe, packed into my brain. You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just tried hotbinding the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary,” Donna gasped. “I'm fine,” she assured them with a nod.

“Nah, never mind Felspoon. You know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I bet he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin? Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester. Charlie Brown. No, he's fiction. Friction, fiction, fixing, mixing, Rickston, Brixton,” Donna rambled like a track skipping. She winced and clutched her head in pain, tears streaming down her face as the Doctor walked up to her with sad eyes.

“Oh, my God,” Donna breathed.

“Do you know what's happening?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah,” Donna mumbled with a nod.

Ariel sniffled, wiping silent tears away as she watched.

“There's never been a human Time Lord metacrisis before now,” the Doctor nodded. “And you know why,” he said.

“Because there can’t be,” Donna sighed. She took a deep breath and turned back to the console. “I want to stay,” she insisted. “I want,” she looked up and met Ariel’s eyes and a single tear streamed down her cheek. “Ariel,” she sighed. “Please don’t make me forget Ariel.”

Ariel choked back a sob and wiped her eyes frantically.

“Look at me. Donna, look at me,” the Doctor insisted.

Donna took a shaky breath and turned back to the Doctor. “I was gonna be with you forever,” Donna breathed.

“I know,” the Doctor nodded.

“I’m so sorry, Donna,” Ariel muttered.

“The rest of my life, travelling in the Tardis,” Donna sighed. “The Doctor Donna. No. Oh my god. I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Doctor, please, please don't make me go back,” she begged. She couldn’t go back to a life where she was nothing. She had no friends like Ariel or the Doctor in that life. She certainly didn’t have adventures like the ones they went on together. She couldn’t lose that life.

“Donna,” the Doctor mumbled. “Oh, Donna Noble. I am so sorry. But we had the best of times.”

“I’ll always remember you, Donna,” Ariel sniffled. “We had so much fun together. I’ll miss you.”

“No,” Donna cried, looking at the pair of them with wide eyes.

“The best,” the Doctor nodded, he held his hands out and began to place them on her temples. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Donna,” Ariel mumbled, wiping tears from her eyes.

“No, no, no. Please. Please. No. No,” Donna begged, tears streaming down her face.

The Doctor closed his eyes and placed his hands on her temples, mind melding with her and taking her memories of him, Ariel, and the Tardis all away.

“No!” Donna screamed one last time before passing out and falling into the Doctor’s chest.

Ariel covered her mouth and let out a small scream as tears pour down her cheeks and she watched her best friend lose every memory of her.

The Doctor sighed softly and hugged Donna tightly. He glanced over at Ariel and she smiled sadly at him.

The Doctor took a deep breath. “We have to get her home,” he said, his voice cracking as he spoke.

Ariel nodded, understanding what he was silently asking her. She walked up and took Donna from his arms so he could fly them back.

The Doctor took a shaky breath as Ariel brought Donna over to the jumpseat and he cast one last regretful glance at Donna before plugging in the coordinates and flying to Donna’s home.

~~~

“I can’t carry her anymore!” Ariel cried, her wavy brown hair being flattened by the rain that had started up the second they arrived.

“Then, knock on the door,” the Doctor nodded. “I can carry her the rest of the way and maybe Wilf or her Mum can help,” the Doctor said.

Ariel sniffled, looking at Donna who was still passed out after the Doctor had mind melded with her. She gulped harshly and nodded. She ran up to the door and knocked harshly as the Doctor carried Donna over to the front door and sat her down with a sigh.

Ariel held back tears, cupping Donna’s cheek sadly. She deserved a better end to her story with the Doctor. Donna Noble was the most brilliant woman in the universe and when she woke up she wouldn’t even remember that.

Ariel heard voices inside and the sound of approaching footsteps. Wilf swung the door open and stared down at the Doctor with wide eyes.

“Donna,” Wilf gasped.

“Help me!” The Doctor exclaimed.

Wilf gulped harshly and nodded frantically, scrambling to help the Doctor. Ariel held the door open for them as they carried Donna into the house and to her room.

The Doctor and Ariel promised Donna’s mother and Wilf an explanation and Donna’s mother made some tea for them.

They headed to the sitting room and Ariel sat on a sofa beside the Doctor. 

A thunderstorm rolled in overhead as they accepted the tea gratefully and the Doctor leant forward with a sigh to explain what had happened to Donna.

“She took my mind into her own head,” the Doctor said. “But that's a Time Lord consciousness. All that knowledge, it was killing her.”

“You could see it just by looking at her,” Ariel nodded. “She looked like she was in pain.”

“But she’ll get better now?” Wilf prompted, the voice of hope creeping into his tone.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a sad look and the Doctor sighed softly.

“I had to wipe her mind completely. Every trace of me, Ariel, or the Tardis, anything we did together, anywhere we went, had to go,” the Doctor said with a nod.

“All of it is gone,” Ariel said. “As far as Donna knows, neither of us have existed in her lives.”

“But why you?” Wilf wondered.

“She met me through the Doctor and since I’m so closely tied to him, it’s sort of hard to explain how we knew each other without him,” Ariel sighed. “She forgot us and she’s forgotten everything we did together.”

“All those wonderful things she did,” Wilf sighed.

“I know,” the Doctor nodded. “But that version of Donna is dead. Because if she remembers, just for a second, she'll burn up. You can never tell her. You can't mention me or Ariel or any of it for the rest of her life.”

“But the whole world's talking about it,” Donna’s mother frowned, unsure of how she could keep information like that from her daughter. “We travelled across space.”

“It’ll just be a story,” the Doctor shrugged. “One of those Donna Noble stories where she missed it all again.”

“She can’t remember how she saved everyone today,” Ariel nodded.

“But she was better with the pair of you,” Wilf sighed.

“Don’t say that,” Donna’s mother frowned.

“But it’s true!” Wilf insisted.

Ariel knew it was true. She was better with the Doctor too. It wasn’t because he forced them to be something they weren't. He encouraged them to be who they really were. He showed people how brave the could be if they only believed it was possible. He gave them the encouragement and the extra push they had never received in their daily life and helped them become the people they were always meant to be.

“I just want you to know there are worlds out there, safe in the sky because of her. That there are people living in the light, and singing songs of Donna Noble, a thousand million light years away. They will never forget her, while she can never remember. And for one moment, one shining moment, she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe,” the Doctor smiled softly.

“She still is,” Donna’s mother nodded. “She’s my daughter.”

“Then maybe you should tell her that once in a while,” Ariel snapped. Donna had told her all too many times about how horrible her mother could be, and she wasn’t going to stand by as Donna sank back into the same like she’d had before they started traveling together. Something had to change.

“I was asleep on my bed in my clothes, like a flipping kid!” Donna exclaimed, barging into the room as Ariel felt her heart shatter in her chest. “What do you let me do that for? Don't mind me. Donna,” she introduced, checking her mobile and holding out her hand to the pair.

“John Smith,” the Doctor said and shook her hand.

Ariel gulped harshly and sniffled, blinking back tears as she stood up and faked a smile for Donna.

“Mary Johnson,” Ariel nodded and shook the woman’s hand.

Donna barely even seemed interested in the pair of them, far too immersed in her own mobile.

“Mister Smith and Miss Johnson were just leaving,” Donna’s mother nodded, glaring at Ariel who took a shaky breath and nodded.

Donna just nodded and shrugged, holding up her mobile with a grin. “My phone's gone mad. Thirty two texts. Veena's gone barmy. She's saying planets in the sky. What have I missed now?” Donna laughed. “Nice to meet you,” she said quickly before heading into the kitchen to talk on her phone.

Ariel felt like she had received a strong blow to the chest as she sighed and fought back tears as the Doctor turned to her and grabbed her hand, wiping a stray tear off her cheek and hugging her to his chest.

“As I said, I think you two should go,” Donna’s mother repeated.

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded. He pulled away from Ariel and cupped her cheek delicately, searching her eyes for a sign that she would be alright saying goodbye to Donna. When he knew she wasn’t, he smiled softly.

“Wait in the Tardis,” the Doctor instructed.

Ariel sniffled and nodded, heading back to the Tardis while the Doctor said goodbye to his best friend one last time.

 


	37. The Perfect Wedding

Ariel sat at the edge of the Tardis floor holding a cup of tea and leaning her head against the doorframe as she stared out at the starry sky. The Earth sat just below them as the Doctor usually hovered over it during the nights when they were sleeping

She couldn’t sleep no matter how hard she tried she just rolled around in her bed, more awake than ever.

Her mind wouldn’t stop running. Everytime she closed her eyes she just thought of her mother and Donna. 

The only person she had left was the Doctor. Everyone else was gone. She knew the situation was the same for him, but it was difficult to face the fact that if she went home at that moment it would be empty.

She let out a shaky sigh. She should be crying her eyes out. She should be feeling the pain of loss like knife wounds throughout her body but she just felt numb. She stared out into the sky and wondered if that was what happened when you’ve lost so many people in a short amount of time. Eventually, you stop crying so much and you just grow numb and weak.

After traveling with the Doctor for so long, she wondered when a life with him had shifted from just some fun journeys to a lifestyle. What exact moment in her life did she commit to the Doctor and become willing to risk her life for him?

When did her life finally slip out of her fingers to the point where she couldn’t even remember what month it was?

Ariel wasn’t sure if, knowing what she knew, she would ever say no to traveling with the Doctor. She wanted to believe she would’ve been wiser and would’ve said no, but she knew that with the level of confidence and actual joy in her life (disregarding all the deaths), she would’ve still walked into the Tardis with him and traveled anywhere and everywhere.

Despite how many people had died when she stood by the Doctor, she knew that if she had never met the Doctor she would still be living the same dead ordinary life with classes all day and then reading and homework all night. Her only joy would come from escaping her mother yelling about her always being in the house and paying a quick trip to the library.

Even that happiness wouldn’t begin to compare to the joy she felt when she and the Doctor started on a new trip to an unknown place.

Plus, there was nothing that beat the way her heart skipped a beat each time the Doctor’s arms wrapped around hers. She knew it would take some time before he was ready to travel again. He had just lost his best friend and the woman he loved in one day. It wouldn’t be easy, but she would be ready to be there for him through it all.

He wouldn’t be alone.

Never again.

As if hearing his name swirling around in her mind, the Doctor stepped out and smirked at her.

“I’m beginning to think you don’t sleep,” the Doctor chuckled.

Ariel looked up at him with a soft smile. “I couldn’t sleep,” she sighed. 

The Doctor took a seat beside her and wrapped his arm around her. She took a deep breath and rested her head on his shoulder. “That’s always the case,” the Doctor muttered, brushing a few stray hairs out of her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t feel anything,” Ariel breathed. “My mother died and it’s like my mind just doesn’t know how to process it. It won’t go through. I cried for ten minutes straight on the Dalek Crucible, but now I’m here where I’m allowed to be upset and there’s nothing,” she said, lifting her head up and meeting his amber eyes with stormy grey ones. “Is that normal?”

“I don’t think there’s a proper way to deal with these things,” the Doctor shrugged. “Especially not with the way we live,” he said. “All there ever is is coping.”

Ariel nodded and rested her head back on his shoulders.

“There’ll be days when you would do anything to forget and days when you can’t help but remember,” the Doctor said. “But all of them come along with it.”

“Would you ever want to forget it?” Ariel wondered. “Just take out the bad and leave all the good?”

“Nah,” the Doctor shook his head. “The bad is necessary. Death, pain, heartbreak,” he listed. “Without them the happy wouldn’t hold any worth. It would seem dead ordinary without a little pain to teach us a lesson. To show us who we are and why we should value those good days and hold them close.”

Ariel smiled softly. “I don’t wanna leave,” Ariel sighed. “I wanna just stay here.”

“How long are you gonna stay with me?” The Doctor asked.

“As long as you want me to,” Ariel said simply. “If you decide I’m a great bore and you’d rather travel alone, I’ll head home.”

“Oh,” the Doctor smiled. “Never,” he insisted.

“Never say never,” Ariel mumbled. Watching everyone leave or die had made her wary of traveling with the Doctor. She knew that she couldn’t stay with him forever and she wanted to spend each moment with him as though it were her last.

However, before she could express a single word of this to the Doctor, the Time Lord took a deep breath and jumped up.

Ariel spun around, unwilling to get up but steadily watching him from the entrance.

“Remember how you said you wanted to meet Queen Victoria?” The Doctor prompted and Ariel frowned.

That felt like a lifetime ago. Back when she was meeting Donna Noble for the very first time.

“She was one of your favorite people in history,” the Doctor reminded her and Ariel giggled.

“Of course, I remember,” Ariel nodded.

“Well, do you remember when you said if I had met her with Prince Albert she probably would’ve been much nicer?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah,” Ariel smiled, jumping up and closing the Tardis doors behind her. “I remember when I was a little girl. I used to read about her and Prince Albert and  _ dream _ of one day having a love like theirs. I remember he once said ‘a love like ours could burn down a city’,” Ariel sighed happily, leaning on the console as she thought about them. “Why?” She frowned, suddenly curious as to why the Doctor felt it necessary to bring up.

“Would you like to see their wedding?” The Doctor asked with a small smirk.

Ariel could’ve sworn her heart skipped a beat at that simple yet wonderful question. When she was a little girl she had idolized Queen Victoria. One of the many things that set her apart from the others growing up. When she was just six or seven she would go around the house in large dresses and a makeshift crown that was usually built out of construction paper and pretend to be Queen Victoria. Her father had thought it was adorable, her mother called it abnormal.

Then again, her Mum had only fallen into the role of a proper mother after the Doctor arrived.

“Are you kidding?” Ariel breathed. “More than anything!” She exclaimed with a grin.

The Doctor beamed at her and typed in the coordinates. “February 10, 1840!” He exclaimed. “Let’s see if we can avoid an exile,” he smirked.

Ariel giggled and ran up to him, placing an excited kiss on his cheek. “I’m gonna go get changed!” She cried. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She grinned as she ran out to the Tardis wardrobe.

The Doctor smiled softly at her as she left. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled.

After Ariel had changed into a light blue dress with no shoulders but long sleeves, she ran out to the Doctor and grinned at his repetitive attire.

“Do you ever change?” Ariel wondered.

“Oi, I changed my suit!” The Doctor exclaimed.

Ariel just laughed and shook her head. “Never mind,” she sighed. “Thank you for doing this. I dreamed of this for ages. I was the weird kid who only ever wanted to meet Queen Victoria or see Frank Sinatra in concert.”

“And now you can do both,” the Doctor smirked and held out his arm. “Shall we?” He prompted.

“We shall,” Ariel nodded and took his arm, using her other hand to hold up her dress as they walked. 

They stepped outside and the Doctor closed the door as Ariel stared up at the palace with wide eyes.

“Oh, it is,” Ariel breathed. “It really is. St James Palace,” she sighed.

The Doctor smiled softly at her as he watched her. She was beautiful in every sense of the word. He wanted to spend every second with her possible and he knew if it had to end sometime, he would seize every second until that day came.

He didn’t want to leave Ariel behind as he had done with Rose, leaving with regrets and hundreds of things he never said but should have. 

Thunder rolled overhead and Ariel giggled. “It was said to be the rainiest day,” she nodded giddily. “But they were determined to marry each other and hundreds of people still showed,” she smiled. 

The Doctor grinned at her and took her arm in his. “Despite this, I think it may be best to find a place before the rain comes in,” the Doctor said and Ariel sighed softly.

“Of course,” Ariel nodded.

They walked up to a man in a British soldiers uniform who raised his eyebrows at them.

“May I see your invitations?” The man prompted.

The Doctor pulled out his invitation and flashed it to the man. “There you are. Lord and Lady Smith here to see the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert,” the Doctor said.

The man nodded. “Right this way, My Lord.”

Ariel flashed and anxious grin at the Doctor as the man lead them inside and they took their places awaiting the beginning of the ceremony.

As they walked everyone crowd in around them, Ariel began remembering Queen Victoria’s entries from her diary about the day she married Prince Albert.

Rather than explaining herself, she just launched into quotes from the diary, knowing the Doctor would understand regardless.

“‘I never saw such crowds of people as there were in the Park, and they cheered most enthusiastically... The Ceremony was very imposing, and fine and simple, and I think ought to make an everlasting impression on every one who promises at the Altar to keep what he or she promises... Oh! this was the happiest day of my life!’” Ariel grinned as she remembered and the Doctor smiled down at her.

Before the Doctor could say a word, the organs and choir began, announcing the arrival of Prince Albert. Ariel inhaled sharply and grabbed the Doctor’s hand as she watched Prince Albert with wide eyes.

Rather than watching Prince Albert, the Doctor watched Ariel with a smile. She was so perfect and somehow she became far more beautiful when watching the wedding of two people she admired most throughout her life.

Albert was in a British field marshal’s uniform and was escorted by a squadron of Life Guards. He entered the chapel to the strains of Handel’s ‘See, the conquering hero comes’. When he reached the front of chapel, he stood tall, not looking behind him at the crowd watching.

Ariel stared at him with bated breath and wide eyes. 

It was only a few moments before Victoria followed. She was lead by Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister and a fatherly figure to Victoria.

Ariel grinned, barely able to contain herself as she watched Victoria. “That’s her,” she gasped. “That’s really her.”

The Doctor chuckled and nodded, watching Ariel radiate with joy and beauty while she stared at Queen Victoria.

She wore a white lace wedding dress.  On her head rested a wreath of orange blossoms and myrtle. Twelve young bridesmaids followed her, carrying her train.

“Did you know, it wasn’t common for women to wear white dresses to weddings at this time?” The Doctor whispered in her ear. “Brides simply wore their "best dress" whatever colour that was. Victoria's decision to wear a white dress actually started the fashion for white dresses that we now think of as bridal wear.”

Ariel grinned at him. She loved that he would bring out random facts and shine with his intelligence. She stared at him with wonder in his eyes and cupped his cheek.

“Have I ever told you how incredibly wonderful you are?” Ariel breathed.

“No, I don’t so,” the Doctor smirked.

Ariel just giggled and shook her head. The Doctor wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her head as they turned to watch the wedding. 

“People have said that they could notice the orange blossoms on Queen Victoria’s head vibrating as she trembled with nerves at the altar,” Ariel muttered. “I always thought that was quite beautiful,” she remarked. “Their love was perfect and everyone knew how wonderful they were together and she still got nerves as though she were holding his hand for the first time,” she smiled.

Before the Doctor could get a word in about his nerves at that exact moment as he looked down at her, the bishop interrupted him.

“Albert, will thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife? To live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will thou love her, comfort her, honour and keep her in sickness and in health so long as you both shall live?”

“I will,” Albert said and Ariel squealed, grabbing the Doctor’s hand and holding it tightly.

“Victoria, will thou have this man to thy wedded husband? To live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will thou obey and serve him, love, honour and keep him in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?”

“I will,” Victoria nodded.

Ariel at the pair of them. Their love was far too perfect for words. She looked up at the Doctor and felt her heart swell as he smiled down at her.

Albert stepped forward and took Victoria’s ring from the bishop’s bible. He began to place it on her finger as he turned to her.

“With this ring, I thee wed,” Albert said. “Doth my body, I thee worship. With all my worldly goods, I thee endow.”

Ariel melted at those beautiful words while a few noble men across the room scoffed at the vow. The man was supposed to be in charge in the nineteenth century, no doubt they were expecting Albert to hold a mistress. Someone else he could be with while Victoria took care of the children. 

Ariel grinned at the fact that he had never taken a single mistress. Perhaps, that was why people thought their love was so great and passionate both emotionally and physically. He never took anyone other than Victoria.

“In the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” Albert said, looking down at Victoria and Ariel could feel his eyes practically begging for his lips against hers. “Amen.”

Victoria looked up at him as though she were trying to memorize every inch of his face in that very moment. She looked at Albert like he was the only one in the room. The crowds didn’t matter, so long as she could stay with him.

Ariel could feel the tension between them and how desperately they just wanted to be together. Her heart melted at the very sight of it.

“I pronounce that they be man and wife together,” the bishop announced.

The choir began singing once again as everyone in the room fell into a great round of applause. 

Meanwhile, Victoria and Albert seemed to be tuning everyone out. They never kissed but their eyes screamed that they were wrapped in the presence of each other, unwilling to be taken away for a single moment.

In the distance, church bells tolled announcing the marriage of Queen Victoria to her husband Prince Albert.

Ariel grinned and she and the Doctor both clapped for the pair along with the rest of the crowd.

“What do you say we stay for the feast?” The Doctor prompted. “If my memory serves me right, I believe they had a three hundred pound cake.”

“Oh, say no more,” Ariel giggled. “All you had to do was mention the cake. It didn’t even have to be Prince Albert and Queen Victoria’s wedding,” she laughed.

They headed to the feast and while they didn’t talk to many seeing as the only two people they would’ve wanted to talk to they couldn’t just approach. Plus, if the Doctor showed his face to Queen Victoria, his own personal history could be quickly changed by the sheer fact of her remembering him when they meet later in her timestream.

Instead, they just enjoyed the feast and Ariel recounted stories of when she was a kid and would insist on going to primary school dressed as Queen Victoria.

The Doctor laughed and was entertained by the thought of young Ariel wearing a little paper crown and refusing to take it off. 

In turn, the Doctor told her about when he briefly encountered Elizabeth the First after saving Shakespeare from a bunch of witches. He told her how Elizabeth had wanted him executed and Ariel just laughed.

“Is there anyone in the British monarchy you haven’t pissed off?” Ariel wondered.

“Well, I have had tea and scones with Elizabeth the Second,” the Doctor frowned as he remembered.

“Oh, so it’s only just all the Queens from history you have a problem with?” Ariel smirked. “The ones currently on the throne are easy to manage.”

“Now, that you mention it,” the Doctor frowned as he realized she had a point.

“Oh, get off it!” Ariel laughed.

They continued to talk as the feast completed and headed back to the Tardis when Victoria and Albert left, laughing the entire time.

“I can’t believe nothing went wrong,” Ariel sighed as she closed the door behind them.

“Oh, now I don’t  _ always _ have something go wrong on these trips!” The Doctor exclaimed with a chuckle.

“Just almost always,” Ariel grinned and nodded at him.

The Doctor just smiled and rolled his eyes.

Ariel walked up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. “Thank you,” she muttered. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” she nodded.

The Doctor smiled softly and tilted her chin up to meet his amber eyes. “You’re more than welcome.”

Ariel felt her breath stolen from her chest as she gazed up into his eyes. It was as though all the oxygen had been sucked from the room. Every sight and sound was absent except for the man before her. Seconds folded into hours as she felt wrapped in his warm brown eyes. Then all at once, the atmosphere shifted as he sighed softly, seeming to give up whatever internal conflict he had been fighting and placed his hands on her cheeks, pressing his lips against her roughly, relishing in the feeling they had deprived themselves of for far too long.

She revelled in the feeling of his soft lips, pressed against hers, desperately craving something he should have never lost. He deepened the kiss and she sighed softly, tangling her fingers through his soft brown hair.

His hands feel from her cheeks and she almost moaned at the loss of his delicate touch. She wanted to feel every inch of him on her body. She wanted to get as close to him as possible, never lose a moment of his skin against hers.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

She pulled away from the kiss momentarily and smiled softly at him, placing her forehead against his.

“Are you sure?” Ariel breathed, her eyes searching his frantically for an answer. “You know everything about me now.”

“And I love all of it,” the Doctor grinned.

Ariel almost laughed in relief and kissed him, pouring all of her love for him into that single kiss. 

She couldn’t get enough of the taste of his lips. She had missed him every second they were apart. It had been so strange to spend hours without him after never going a single day without seeing his face. 

His presence offered comfort and love where she needed it most and she would never stop loving him for it.

He never wanted to leave her again. As he pulled away for a moment and gazed into her sparkling grey eyes, he knew he could never leave her again. He would never leave her by choice if he could help it. He didn’t want to lose the one woman left in the universe that knew everything about him and had still chosen to accept him and care about him. He would never cease to be filled with wonder and awe at the woman in his arms. She had accepted him when most others would turn away, so he would accept her just the same.

He was hers and she was his. That was final.

He kicked open the door to his bedroom, his lips never leaving hers as she grinned against his lips.

That moment was, quite possibly, the happiest she had felt or ever would feel until the day she died.

The Doctor kicked the door closed, sealing their time together from the world and just granting all his attention to the woman he loved smiling down at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished binging season two of Victoria and I love it I love it I love it. If you hadn't guessed, I based what the bishop said off that because I don't think I'm supposed to know word for word what was said at a wedding in 1840. Also, if you have been paying attention, I started recently making this series completely canon by including the comics as well. In the comics, the Doctor spent most of his time mourning and (if you haven't read them) even got a cat named Rose who encouraged him to get a "rebound companion". He also, according to the wikia, watched a bunch of sad movies like Love Actually. (It actually says that). I figured that would change because now he has somebody so forgive me for not going to the original canon of his travels before "The Next Doctor"


	38. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The quote at the very top is from Queen Victoria's personal diaries about the first night she spent with Prince Albert. I thought it was kinda perfect for them so I included it. Most of Queen Victoria's diary entries about major moments can be found online for free, you can read most of them here: https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/media/victoria.pdf
> 
> However, if you want to read all her diary entries you'll have to go to the official site the Queen put up and subscribe. You can do that here if you have money unlike me: www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/ It starts you off with a free trial but you also have to fill in a bunch of information about yourself.

_ "I never ever spent such an evening!! My dearest dearest dear Albert…  his excessive love and affection gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms and we kissed each other again and again! His beauty, his sweetness and gentleness—really how can I ever be thankful enough..." _

 

Ariel rolled over in the Doctor’s arms with a sigh and smiled softly at him. She placed her hand on his cheek delicately, desperate to memorize every second of this moment. 

With the white sheets over them and the light shining through, the Doctor thought Ariel somehow managed to look far more stunning than she usually did.

He grinned and pulled her closer. He traced her cheekbone softly, transfixed by her stormy grey eyes.

“Is it selfish to never want to get up?” Ariel whispered as though they were being spied on by a cruel thief that would pull them out of bed and force them into a day that may set them apart.

“If it’s selfish then I’ve gotta be the most egocentric one out there,” the Doctor smirked.

Ariel giggled and kissed him sweetly. “I love you so much,” she sighed, brushing his cheekbone with her thumb.

The Doctor smiled softly and delicately pushed her soft brown hair behind her ear. He glanced down at her. Her beautiful pink lips and stunning grey eyes were sheer perfection. “I love you too,” the Doctor mumbled.

Try as they might, they knew they couldn’t stay in bed for a whole day and wound up getting up to the displeasure of the pair.

“I don’t know where we could go,” Ariel sighed. “I’m not feeling drawn to any option right now if I’m honest,” she said. 

“Well, how about we stick around in Victorian times but switch it up a bit?” The Doctor suggested.

“How do you mean?” Ariel asked.

“Well, rather than Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s wedding, we go there for Christmas?” The Doctor suggested with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.

Ariel’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?” She breathed. “That would be brilliant actually,” she nodded and the Doctor chuckled.

There were times when they each knew the other better than they knew themselves.

“Well then, I’d suggest you get changed cause I don’t think the people of the nineteenth century will take very kindly to a woman in nothing but a bed sheet. Plus, it’s winter,” the Doctor winced.

Ariel just giggled. “Fair point,” she nodded. She leant up and gave him a quick kiss. “When I come back this time, the least you could do is change your tie,” she smirked.

The Doctor grinned at her. After the first Time War, he never thought it was possible that he could find anyone who would care about him and love him regardless of what he did. He had traveled so angry and bitter at the world, thinking he would have to be alone forever.

That was until he met Rose. She helped him recover and loved him when he didn’t think it was possible. After he lost her, he had always assumed that she was one in a million. It couldn’t be possible that a woman with wounds in her past like him could ever exist and love him even after he killed his entire species, then Ariel walked into his life.

She brought light where he thought the last of it had dimmed when Rose got trapped in the parallel world. She understood the weight of murder that fell on a person and she had felt tragedies in her life. They both had countless wounds, but when they were together it felt like all of them were healed. He had ruined her, and she him. Neither could bear the thought that one day it might all end, but as horrible as it seemed, it pushed them into making every single second with each other count because they never knew when it could all be over.

When Ariel walked out again, the Doctor had landed the Tardis and was grinning at her. 

“You changed your tie!” Ariel exclaimed with a giggle.

“Ah, I thought I’d change it up a bit,” the Doctor smirked with a small shrug.

“Such a drastic change,” Ariel said sarcastically. “How will you ever cope?”

The Doctor laughed and shook his head. “It’ll be tough,” he sighed, grinning as he looked down, pretending to be shaken.

Ariel giggled and grabbed his hand, turning him to face her. “I love you,” she sighed. 

“I love you too,” the Doctor nodded, smiling softly at her.

Ariel cupped his cheeks and slowly pulled him down to her lips for a sweet kiss.

When they pulled away, the Doctor took a deep breath and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Well then, are you ready for Christmas in the nineteenth century?”

“More than ready,” Ariel smiled. “I’m pretty sure the only way this could get more Christmassy is if you met Charles Dickens again and three ghosts dropped by.”

The Doctor chuckled. “Ah, shame that can only happen once,” he nodded.

“Seriously,” Ariel grinned.

They walked out of the Tardis arm in arm and Ariel beamed at her surroundings. It was snowing around them and everyone seemed to be in the most cheerful mood. A policeman acknowledged the couple with a small wave.

“Good afternoon,” the policeman nodded.

Around them, various sellers were calling out their wares.

“Hot chestnuts!” One of the sellers called. “Chestnuts!”

“Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy. Oh, tidings,” A choir sang and Ariel giggled.

“Could we get anymore Christmas?” Ariel whispered to the Doctor.

“Oh, you just watch Miss Parsons,” the Doctor hummed. He straightened his tie and walked over to a young boy.  “You there, boy. What day is this?” The Doctor asked.

Ariel covered her laughter and spun around in joy as the Doctor smirked at her.

“Christmas Eve, sir,” the young boy nodded.

The Doctor raised and eyebrow and leant forward, still curious as to whether or not he got the year right.

“What year?” The Doctor asked.

“You thick or something?” The boy frowned.

Ariel snorted. “Yes, yes, he is,” Ariel nodded, giggling as she walked up to the Doctor and took his arm.

“Oi!” The Doctor exclaimed, glancing at the boy and Ariel. “Just answer the question,” he sighed.

“Year of our Lord, 1851, sir,” the boy said.

“Right,” the Doctor nodded. “Nice year. Bit dull,” he shrugged.

“Oh, I dunno,” Ariel sighed. “Year after Prince Arthur was born. Mary Shelley died,” she said.

“Ah, I suppose you’re right,” the Doctor nodded. “Even still. Could’ve been a year back. I always love a good baby being born.”

“Well, if you wanted excitement we should’ve stayed in 1840. Marriage and baby born in the same year,” Ariel smirked.

“Blimey, Victoria and Albert didn’t waste much time,” the Doctor laughed.

They continued to trudge through the snow laughing until a distant cry ceased their laughter almost immediately.

“Doctor! Doctor!” A voice called.

Ariel and the Doctor spun towards it with wide eyes.

“And here I thought it was going to be a quiet Christmas,” Ariel smirked.

“Doctor!”

“Who, me?” The Doctor grinned and grabbed Ariel’s hand before running towards the call.

They found a woman with large dark curly hair and dark-skin desperately crying out for the Doctor.

“Don't worry, don't worry,” the Doctor assured her. “Stand back. What have we got here?”

Just then, the large double doors that the woman was staring at rattled and behind it something snarled.

“Just a guess, but whatever’s behind that door isn’t the nice neighbourhood dog,” Ariel sighed.

“Ooo. Okay, we've got it,” the Doctor nodded to the woman. “Whatever's behind that door, I think you should get out of here,” the Doctor said and the woman frowned at him.

“Doctor!” She called once again and the Doctor seemed wildly confused.

Ariel turned to them with a small frown.

“No, no. I'm standing right here. Hello,” the Doctor smiled, waving politely.

“Don’t be stupid,” the woman scoffed. “Who are you?”

“He’s the Doctor,” Ariel giggled.

“Doctor who?” The woman asked. 

The Doctor looked back at Ariel with a small frown and she couldn’t do much other than simply shrug, as lost as he was.

“Just the Doctor,” the Doctor said.

“Well, there can’t be two of you,” the woman sighed and Ariel’s eyes widened. 

“Two of who?” Ariel prompted.

Before she could get a response, a man in Victorian clothing appearing just a bit older than the Doctor’s current face ran up gasping for air.

“Where the hell have you been?!” The woman snapped.

“Right then,” the man sighed. “Don't worry. Stand back. What have we got here then?”

“I’m sorry, what?!” Ariel exclaimed, completely blindsided by what they had walked into.

“Hold on, hold on,” the Doctor frowned, holding up a hand to stop the man for a moment. “Who are you?”

“I'm the Doctor. Simply, the Doctor,” the man beamed. “The one, the only and the best,” he nodded.

“Sorry, what?!” Ariel said with wide eyes.

“Rosita, give me the sonic screwdriver,” the other Doctor instructed.

“The what?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Now quickly, get back to the Tardis,” the other Doctor nodded to the woman.

“Excuse me?” Ariel prompted.

“Back to the what?” The Doctor asked.

“If you could stand back, ma’am,” the other Doctor said, gently pushing Ariel back. “This is a job for a Time Lord.”

Ariel chuckled almost in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?” Ariel scoffed.

“Job for a what lord?” The Doctor frowned.

“Did you just miss that bit with him pushing me away?!” Ariel snapped. “Blimey, whoever you are you’re not subtle are you?”

Before any of them could respond to her, the doors burst open and some strange animal with dark fur and a metal face jumped out towards them.

“Oh, that’s different,” the Doctor breathed.

“Oh, that’s new,” the other Doctor smirked.

“Definitely never seen that one before,” Ariel nodded.

Both of the Doctors pulled out their sonic screwdrivers and pointed them at the creature.

“Allons-y!” Both men shouted.

Ariel just stared at them with wide eyes, unable to speak a single word in pure shock.

“I've been hunting this beast for a good fortnight,” the other Doctor said. “Now step back, sir,” he instructed, pushing the Doctor back.

The Doctor just stared at him with wide eyes and Ariel snickered.

“Doesn’t feel so good when it happens to you, does it?” Ariel prompted.

The beast with the metal face leapt up to a wall opposite of them. Getting a better look at it, Ariel saw that it not only had a metal face but also metal hands and feet. Whatever it was, it didn’t look like an ordinary animal with metal forced onto it. It appeared to be something new.

“Some sort of primitive conversion, like they took the brain of a cat or a dog,” the Doctor frowned.

“You think somebody created that thing with a cat or dog brain?” Ariel muttered, pointing up at the creature with wide eyes.

“Must be,” the Doctor sighed.

“Well, talking's all very well,” the other Doctor said. “Rosita?” He prompted.

“I’m ready,” Rosita nodded and handed him a large coil of rope and he pulled it apart to reveal a lasso, presumably for the creature.

“Now, watch and learn,” the other Doctor smirked.

The other Doctor tossed the lasso up into the air and got it around the beast in one try.

“Excellent,” the other Doctor smiled. “Now then, let's pull this timorous beastie down to earth.”

Before he could actually do that, the creature ran further up the wall and pulled the other Doctor up with him.

“Or not,” the Doctor mumbled and Ariel snickered.

“I might be in a little trouble!” The other Doctor called.

“When aren’t you?” Ariel sighed and the Doctor laughed.

“Nothing changes,” the Doctor chuckled, running forward to grab the bottom of the rope. “I’ve got you!”

Instead of pulling the other Doctor back down, the creature pulled the pair of them up off the ground and Ariel rolled her eyes.

“We’ve barely been here five minutes, Doctor!” Ariel snapped.

“Yeah, a bit of help would be appreciated!” The Doctor called.

“You idiots!” Rosita exclaimed.

“Yeah, you get used to it,” Ariel mumbled. She glanced around the area and spotted an axe in a tree stump. Ariel tapped Rosita’s shoulder and gestured to it. “Come on, we have to save the idiots being pulled by the thing with the cat brain,” she sighed.

Rosita chuckled as Ariel pulled the axe out of the tree stump and ran to the entrance of the warehouse her boyfriend was currently being pulled into.

“Oh, I’ll never stop having to save your life, will I?” Ariel grumbled as she used the axe to cut the lock on the door. She kicked them open the way Donna had taught her and waved to Rosita to follow her.

They ran up the steps to the sound of wild screams from the Doctors.

The creature hopped up to a windowsill and Ariel ran forward, cutting the rope quickly before the other Doctor could be pulled through. She dropped the axe on the ground and stared at the men with her hands on her hips.

“You’re quite possibly the dumbest geniuses I have ever met,” Ariel chuckled.

The men got up and just started laughing, hugging each other happily as they continued to laugh.

Rosita just rolled her eyes and Ariel scoffed as they all headed out of the warehouse. The two Doctors continued to laugh all the way down the steps and Rosita seemed to grow agitated with the pair of them.

“Well, I'm glad you think it's so funny. You're mad. Both of you. You could've got killed!” Rosita exclaimed.

“Oh, isn’t that always the case?” Ariel moaned.

“But evidently we did not,” the other Doctor nodded. “Oh, I should introduce Rosita. My faithful companion. Always telling me off,” he laughed.

“Well, they do, don't they?” The Doctor smirked, wrapping his arm around Ariel. “Rosita. Good name. Hello, Rosita,” he waved.

“Huh,” Rosita sneered at the pair of them. “Now I'll have to go and dismantle the traps. All that for nothing. And we've only got twenty minutes till the funeral, don't forget. Then back to the Tardis, right?” Rosita said before marching away in the snow.

“Funeral?” The Doctor prompted with a small frown.

“Oh, long story,” the other Doctor sighed, kneeling over and trying to catch his breath. “Not my own,” he mumbled. “Not yet,” he chuckled.

“Well, I would introduce Ariel here but you probably recognize her, or probably even me,” the Doctor smirked.

The other Doctor frowned at the pair of them. “No, not at all,” he shook his head.

Ariel frowned. “Sorry?” She prompted.

“But you're the Doctor,” the Doctor said. “The next Doctor. Or the next but one. A future Doctor anyway. No, no, don't tell me how it happened. Although, I hope I don't just trip over a brick. That'd be embarrassing. Then again, painless. Worse ways to go. Depends on the brick.”

“Depends on the trip,” Ariel smirked and the Doctor’s eyes widened as he nodded.

“Very true,” the Doctor said.

“The pair of you are gabbling,” the other Doctor remarked. 

“Yeah, we get that a lot,” Ariel sighed.

“Quite a bit actually,” the Doctor nodded with a small frown. “But you’ve gotta remember those days, huh?”

“Should I, sir? Who are you, exactly?” The other Doctor asked.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a small frown. If this man was in the Doctor’s future, then why didn’t he recognize either of them?

The Doctor took a deep breath and held out his hand. “No, I'm, er, I'm just. Smith. John Smith,” he introduced himself and the other Doctor smiled and shook his hand. “But I've heard all about you, Doctor. Bit of a legend, if I say so myself,” he smirked.

Ariel rolled her eyes with a small smile. He just had to go on and compliment himself.

“Modesty forbids me to agree with you, sir. But yes. Yes, I am,” the other Doctor chuckled.

“Ah, the arrogance hasn’t changed,” Ariel remarked with a grin.

“Oi,” the Doctor scolded, chuckling softly at the observation. “A legend with certain memories missing. Am I right?” He prompted.

“How do you know that?” The other Doctor frowned.

“You’ve forgotten me,” the Doctor mumbled.

“And me,” Ariel added with a nod.

“Great swathes of my life have been stolen away,” the other Doctor sighed. “When I turn my mind to the past, there's nothing.”

“Going how far back?” The Doctor asked.

“Since the Cybermen,” the other Doctor shrugged. “Masters of that hellish wall-scuttler and old enemies of mine, now at work in London town. You won't believe this, Mister Smith, but they are creatures from another world,” he said, looking up at the pair with wide eyes.

They did their best to feign shock but failed beautifully.

“Really?” The Doctor gasped, completely monotone as he spoke.

“Unbelievable,” Ariel shook her head, her tone the same as the Doctor’s as she spoke.

“Wow,” the Doctor mumbled.

The other Doctor frowned at their obvious fake surprise but didn’t say a word. “It's said they fell onto London, out of the sky in a blaze of light. And they found me. Something was taken. And something was lost. What was I like, in the past?” He asked, glancing at the pair.

“I don't think I should say,” the Doctor shrugged. “Sorry. Got to be careful with memory loss. One wrong word.”

“It's strange, though. I talk of Cybermen from the stars and you don't blink, Mister Smith. Nor you, Miss Ariel,” the other Doctor remarked with a small frown.

“Ah, don't blink,” the Doctor grinned. “Remember that? Whatever you do, don't blink? The blinking and the statues? Sally and the angels? No?” His smile slowly falling into a frown.

Ariel giggled and grabbed his hand. “Probably not best just yet,” she whispered and the Doctor frowned but nodded, disappointed that he couldn’t laugh about his exploits with a future version of himself.

“You’re a very odd pairing,” the other Doctor remarked.

“Again, get that one a lot,” Ariel nodded.

“Though it was best when Agatha Christie said it,” the Doctor sighed.

“Ah, I prefer Winston Churchill. He told me I was a lovely lady after. Nothing beats a compliment from Winston Churchill,” Ariel grinned.

“Oi, there’s always a compliment from the Prince,” the Doctor smirked.

“You wouldn’t,” Ariel gasped. 

“Well, we’ll have to survive the next trip but of course,” the Doctor laughed.

“Oh, my God, yes!” Ariel giggled.

The other Doctor stared at them with wide eyes. “You are certainly very strange,” he nodded. “The pair of you, but no matter. I must get going. The funeral's at two o'clock. It's been a pleasure, Mister Smith, Miss Ariel. Don't breathe a word of it,” he instructed.

“Oh, but can’t we come with you?” The Doctor asked, pouting like a small child. 

“It's far too dangerous,” the other Doctor shook his head. “Rest assured, I shall keep this city safe. Oh, and, er merry Christmas, Mister Smith, Miss Ariel,” he nodded.

“Merry Christmas, Doctor,” the Doctor grinned as the other Doctor left.

The Doctor turned to Ariel with a sigh, grabbing her hands and brushing her hair out of her face.

“Doctor, something’s off about him,” Ariel sighed. “I mean I get that you used to treat your companions like that, and if he didn’t remember post Time War he might not know otherwise, but he doesn’t act like you at all. And it’s not just a different personality. He just seems like somebody’s old dad. Not the Doctor.”

“Oi, I am an old dad,” the Doctor frowned.

“Oh, you know what I mean,” Ariel mumbled.

“Yeah,” the Doctor frowned, glancing at the spot the other Doctor had left. “But if you’re right and he’s not the Doctor, we’ve gotta figure out why he thinks he is.”

“Agreed,” Ariel nodded.

“You alright chasing the next Doctor for Christmas?” The Doctor asked.

“Are you kidding?” Ariel said. “I get to spend Christmas with you in one of my favorite eras and the promise of meeting Prince Albert. I couldn’t be better,” she smiled.

The Doctor grinned and leant down, kissing her sweetly. However, when his lips lingered, Ariel pulled away with a smile. “Gotta chase the other Doctor remember?” She prompted.

“Right,” the Doctor sighed. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her as close as possible. “Let’s see where this investigation of there’s is leading them.”

“Speaking of which, what the hell are the Cybermen and what the hell was that thing back there?” Ariel asked.

“Cybermen are a race of cybernetically augmented humanoids. They use human brains in armoured metal bodies to make a greater army. That creature back there must have been something they created. It had the same face as them anyway,” the Doctor shrugged.

“But could it be possible that the creature was just a mistake?  Something they were experimenting with and failed?” Ariel guessed. “You told me when you went to Manhattan with Martha there were a bunch of failed experiments from the Daleks in order to stay alive,” she reminded him. “Maybe, this could be it,” she shrugged.

“Maybe,” the Doctor breathed. “But that doesn’t explain why that man thinks he’s the Doctor.”

“Yeah, I can’t get my head round that bit,” Ariel mumbled.

“Oh!” The Doctor exclaimed as he spotted the other Doctor and Rosita watching as a solemn crowd followed four black horses pulling a hearse. The Doctor moved back so they wouldn’t see him or Ariel and the couple peered around the corner of the house as they listened in.

“The late Reverend Fairchild, leaving his place of residence for the last time. God rest his soul. Now, with the house empty, I shall effect an entrance at the rear while you go back to the Tardis. This is hardly work for a woman,” the other Doctor instructed.

“Not exactly subtle in your early days were you?” Ariel frowned.

“You can yell at me for it later, hush,” the Doctor said.

Ariel snorted. “Alright then,” she mumbled.

“Oh, don't mind me and that Ariel woman saving your life. That's work for a woman, isn't it?” Rosita prompted.

“The Doctor's companion does what The Doctor says,” the other Doctor instructed. “Off you go,” he said, waving her off.

Rosita huffed at him and marched away while the other Doctor, blatantly unaware of her anger, turned around with a grin.

“Come on,” the Doctor nodded. He hopped over the fence to the house and caught Ariel as she did the same.

They ran up to the front door and the Doctor quickly sonicked them inside. 

“If he really is you, he should be able to get in here with no hassle,” Ariel said, picking up some items off a table and looking through them.

“Fair point, but I don’t want to leave him out there all day if he can’t. That’s a bit embarrassing, don’t you think?” The Doctor said.

“You’re being extremely nice to a man that might be impersonating you,” Ariel remarked.

“Well, I don’t think he can help it,” the Doctor frowned.

“Which begs the question, why can’t he?” Ariel sighed. “What made him do this and if it’s the Cybermen, why would they want another version of you running around? I mean if anything that’s supposed to be something I wish for,” she smirked.

The Doctor chuckled and wrapped his around her waist, backing her against her the back of the sofa and kissing her softly. She sighed against his lips and tangled her fingers through his hair.

“Damn!” The other Doctor exclaimed from outside making the Doctor and Ariel pull away from each other with a groan.

“Oh, we’ve gotta help him don’t we?” Ariel moaned.

The Doctor laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Come on,” he sighed. He grabbed her hand and walked her to the back door, 

The Doctor swung the door open, nearly hitting the other Doctor as he did so.

“Hello,” the Doctor smiled.

“Nice to see you again,” Ariel grinned.

The other Doctor frowned at the pair of them. The couple were turning out to be far more strange than he could have ever imagined. “How did you get in?” The other Doctor asked.

“Oh, front door,” the Doctor shrugged. “I'm good at doors,” he smiled and Ariel tapped his shoulder, gesturing to the small item the man was trying to open the door with. The Doctor took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Er, do you mind my asking, is that your sonic screwdriver?” He asked, gesturing to the item that looked like nothing more than an ordinary screwdriver.

“Yes,” the other Doctor nodded with a small smile. “I’d be lost without it,” he said, holding the item up for the pair to see.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look.

“But that's a screwdriver. How's it sonic?” The Doctor wondered.

“Well, er, it makes a noise,” the other Doctor mumbled awkwardly. He tapped his screwdriver on the wood of the doorframe and it made the same sound any metal knocking on wood would make. “That's sonic, isn't it? Now, since we're acting like common burglars, I suggest we get out of plain view,” he advised.

The Doctor cast one wary glance at Ariel, silently deciding that she could be right as the other Doctor stepped inside and they closed the door behind him.

“So, what brought you to the house of the late Reverend Fairchild?” Ariel asked.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her.

“What?” Ariel smirked. “I read the letters on the table,” she shrugged.

The Doctor was impressed, but didn’t say a word. She was learning to be a better detective than even him. Ariel smiled, knowing exactly what he was thinking. The Doctor grinned and turned to the other Doctor with a sigh.

“Yeah, this investigation of yours, what's it about?” The Doctor asked.

“It started with a murder,” the other Doctor said ominously.

“Oh, good,” the Doctor nodded.

Ariel glanced up at him with wide eyes and cleared her throat. “Mister Smith?” She prompted, silently telling him where he had gone wrong.

The Doctor eyes widened and he hurried to amend his mistake. “I mean bar,” he corrected. “Er, whose?” He wondered.

“Surely not Reverend Fairchild,” Ariel frowned. “He looks like he’s just past and you said you’ve been investigating this for a fortnight.”

“No,” the other Doctor shook his head. “You’re right, it was Mr Jackson Lake, a teacher of mathematics from Sussex. He came to London three weeks ago and died a terrible death,” he sighed.

“Cybermen?” The Doctor guessed.

“It's hard to say,” the other Doctor shrugged. “His body was never found. But then it started. More secret murders, then abductions. Children, stolen away in silence,” he said.

“So, Reverend Fairchild?” Ariel prompted, wondering what the Reverend had to do with Mr Jackson Lake.

“The latest murder,” the other Doctor nodded. “The Reverend Aubrey Fairchild, found with burns to his forehead, like some advanced form of electrocution.”

“But why burn his head? Why not convert him?” Ariel mumbled.

“Who was he?” The Doctor asked. “Was he important?”

“You both as a lot of questions,” the other Doctor remarked, narrowing his eyes at them.

“We’re your companions,” the Doctor shrugged.

Ariel chuckled and nodded. “That’s sort of in the job description,” she said.

The other Doctor seemed wary of them but sighed softly and nodded. “The Reverend was the pillar of the community, a member of many parish boards. A keen advocate of children's charities.”

“Children again,” the Doctor muttered. “But why would the Cybermen want him dead? And what's his connection to the first death, this Jackson Lake?” He wondered.

“And how does Jackson Lake connect to children?” Ariel added with a nod.

“It's funny. I seem to be telling the pair of you everything, as though you engendered some sort of trust,” the other Doctor chuckled. “You seem familiar, Mister Smith. I know your face. But how?” He wondered.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and nudged Ariel, gesturing down to the other Doctor’s fob watch. Her eyes widened and she almost immediately understood what the Doctor was thinking. He had told her what fob watches could be to Time Lords. She was never certain if he told her because he wanted to make sure she knew if he had to store his identity in one or if he just wanted her to know about when he had experienced that with Martha, but nevertheless, she understood. She nodded and the Doctor met the other Doctor’s eyes.

“I wonder,” the Doctor hummed. “I can't help noticing you're wearing a fob watch,” he remarked.

“Is that important?” The other Doctor frowned, holding up the watch for the couple to see.

“Legend has it that the memories of a Time Lord can be contained within a watch,” the Doctor mumbled and Ariel raised an eyebrow.  _ Legend?  _ The Doctor simply shrugged and gestured to the watch. “Do you mind?” He asked.

The other Doctor shrugged and handed him the watch. The Doctor took a deep breath and held the watch delicately in the palm of his hand.

“It’s said that if it’s opened,” the Doctor began, sighing softly as he opened the contents of the fob watch. 

Instead of the energy of a Time Lord shining through, the works just fell out onto the ground and Ariel snickered.

“Oh,” the Doctor sighed. “Maybe not.”

“I’m guessing those aren’t the memories of a Time Lord, then?” Ariel giggled, pointing to the works on the floor.

“Oh, you hush up,” the Doctor moaned, wrapping an arm around her and laughing as he kissed the crown of her head.

“It was more for decoration,” the other Doctor shrugged.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed.

“Anyway,” Ariel smiled. “Back to the investigation,” she nodded.

“Yeah, alien infiltration,” the Doctor said as they spun around and scanned the place.

“Yes,” the other Doctor nodded. “Just look for anything different. Possibly metal. Anything that doesn't seem to belong. Perhaps a mechanical device that could fit no earthly engine,” he instructed and Ariel smirked as the Doctor winked at her and pulled out his sonic screwdriver.

The Doctor started scanning the area with his sonic screwdriver and the other Doctor continued telling them what they needed to look out for, not knowing the couple had investigated together dozens of times.

“It could even seem to be organic, but unlike any organism of the natural world,” the other Doctor told them. The Doctor nodded to a writing desk just in front of them, continuing to scan for any more items, and Ariel was about to open it when the other Doctor heard the sound of the screwdriver. “Shush!” He exclaimed. “What's that noise?”

Ariel leapt forward and put her hand on the sonic screwdriver, masking the noise as the Doctor turned to the other Doctor with wide eyes.

“It’s nothing,” Ariel assured him with a sheepish grin.

“Oh, it's just me, whistling,” the Doctor shrugged and whistled the same way the sonic screwdriver sounded. “I wonder what's in here, though,” he muttered, grabbing Ariel’s hand and opening up the writing desk.

Inside there were two strange metal tubes that the Doctor picked up and frowned at. “Ah. Different and metal, you were right,” the Doctor nodded to the other Doctor.

“What are they?” Ariel mumbled, frowning at the tube as the Doctor handed it to her.

“They are infostamps,” the Doctor replied. At the other Doctor’s raised eyebrow the Doctor simply shrugged. “I mean, at a guess. If I were you, I'd say they worked something like this. ‘Scuse me, love,” the Doctor mumbled and moved to the side. 

He pressed a button on one side of the infostamp and images that had the quality of an old film were projected against the wall behind him and started playing rapidly.

“Oi, that’s Shakespeare!” Ariel exclaimed. 

“Compressed information,” the Doctor nodded. “Tons of it. That is the history of London, 1066 to the present day. This is like a disc, a Cyberdisc. But why would the Cybermen need something so simple? They've got to be wireless,” he sighed.

“But that still doesn’t explain why the would need the information, because this has all the major events in London up till 1851,” Ariel said

The Doctor frowned as he thought on Ariel’s words. “Unless,” the Doctor mumbled, unsure if his theory could be right.

“What is it?” Ariel asked.

“They're in the wrong century,” the Doctor realized with wide eyes. “They haven't got much power,” he nodded. “They need plain old basic infostamps to update themselves,” he smiled.

Ariel grinned. “Of course!” She exclaimed and spun around only to notice the other Doctor pinching his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. “What’s wrong?” Ariel breathed.

The Doctor frowned and followed her line of sight with wide eyes. He knelt down in front of the other Doctor with a sigh. “Are you alright?” He asked, his tone soft and gentle.

Ariel smiled softly at him. That was one of the many reasons she loved him. He was willing to be kind to anybody no matter what their intentions may be. He had wanted to save Davros from the Crucible despite how long he’d kept him imprisoned on that ship. She hoped one day she could gain that trait as well.

“I’m fine,” the other Doctor nodded.

“No, what is it?” The Doctor insisted. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I've seen one of these before,” the other Doctor breathed, holding onto the infostamp tightly. “I was holding this device the night I lost my mind. The night I regenerated. The Cybermen, they made me change. My mind, my face, my whole self. And you were there,” he muttered, cupping the Doctor’s cheek with wide eyes. “Who are you?”

“A friend,” the Doctor nodded. “I swear.”

“Then I beg you, John. Help me,” the other Doctor pleaded, his voice cracking as he spoke.

The Doctor grinned at him. “Ah,” he sighed, jumpin up and wrapping his arm around Ariel. “Two words I never refuse,” he beamed, kissing Ariel softly on her temple while she giggled, entirely elated. 

The Doctor smiled and seemed to bounce into his usual childish demeanor, never letting go of Ariel’s hand as he spun around the house. “But it's not a conversation for a dead man's house. It'll make more sense if we go back to the Tardis. Your Tardis,” he nodded.

The other Doctor nodded and began to gesture, the offer to guide the pair to his Tardis on the tip of his tongue when the Doctor interrupted him before the words could even leave his mouth.

“Hold on,” the Doctor said, holding up a hand to stop the man in his tracks. “I just need to do a little final check. Won't take a tick. There's one more thing I cannot figure. If this room's got infostamps, then maybe, just maybe, it's got something that needs infostamping,” he mumbled.

“You think the could be keeping one here?” Ariel frowned and her eyes widened as she realized. “Of course!” She exclaimed. “It could’ve killed the Reverend!”

“Exactly,” the Doctor grinned. “Now, let’s-,” he began, but froze when he opened a door and there was a metal man standing on the other side.

Ariel and the Doctor stared at it with wide eyes. 

“Okay,” the Doctor sighed and swung the door closed. 

“Just a thought-,” Ariel began.

“I think we should run,” the Doctor finished with a nod.

Before the other Doctor could even ask them what was going on. The Cyberman smashed the door down in front of them.

“Run!” The Doctor yelled. “Now!”

“Delete. The Doctor will be deleted,” the Cyberman said.

They ran through one of the rooms and the Doctor sonicked the door closed behind them. The ran down the corridor only to run into another Cyberman.

“Delete!” The Cyberman cried.

They spun around and started running the other way.

“So, those are Cybermen, yeah?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Yep, pretty much!” The Doctor yelled.

They reached the stairs just as the second Cyberman broke down the door and started marching toward them.

“Stairs!” The Doctor shouted and shoved the other Doctor up the steps. “Can't lead them outside!” He tried to move Ariel up the stairs as well and she gave him a look that said  _ if you try to get rid of me I will kill you _ .

The Doctor laughed and grabbed her hand as he grabbed one of the many items by his side. He figured he could keep the Cybermen away with it, only to discover it was just an umbrella. He sighed and dropped it and Ariel spun around and pulled a sword from the wall. 

“Here!” Ariel exclaimed and tossed it to him. 

“Thanks!” The Doctor said, pointing the sword out at the two Cybermen, glaring at them.

“Delete.”

“I'm a dab hand with a cutlass and a victress . You don't want to come near me,” the Doctor warned. “This is your last warning,” he said as the Cybermen continued to march forward. “No? Olay, this is really your last warning!” The Doctor exclaimed. As the continued to march, the Doctor sighed and pulled Ariel up the steps. “Okay, I give up,” he shrugged.

“Delete,” the Cybermen said.

“Listen to me properly,” the Doctor insisted, fighting the metal men with his sword. Ariel grabbed the bannister and kicked another one in the chest, knocking it back a few steps. “Whatever you're doing stuck in 1851, I can help!” He exclaimed. “I mean it. I'm the only person in the world who can help you! Listen to me!” He begged.

“Delete.”

“Oh, that word is starting to get really dull!” Ariel snapped, pushing the Cyberman back down the steps again.

“Delete.”

“I'm the Doctor. You need me,” the Doctor sighed. “Check your memory banks. My name's the Doctor. Leave this man alone. The Doctor is me!” He exclaimed, following after Ariel’s lead and pushing the Cyberman he was fighting down the stairs.

The Doctor held out his hand for Ariel and the pair ran up to the second floor as the Cybermen followed them.

“Delete.”

“The Doctor, remember? I'm the Doctor! You need me alive. You need the Doctor, and that's me!” The Doctor exclaimed as the Cybermen knocked the Doctor down.

“Doctor!” Ariel shrieked and ran in front of him, but before the Cyberman could kill either of them, the other Doctor opened the seal on the infostamp and blasted the Cybermen with the beam, blowing up their heads.

Ariel fell to her knees and gasped for air as she stared up at the Cybermen, her racing heart slowly drifting back down to a normal speed.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?!” The Doctor exclaimed, turning her to face him with wide eyes. “You can’t seriously think you were going to die for me.”

“I acted on instinct,” Ariel sighed, shaking her head. “You’re all I have left. I can’t live without you.”

The Doctor smiled softly and wrapped her in a tight hug, pulling away and pressing a long kiss on her forehead. “I still have one more face,” the Doctor whispered in her ear. “You don’t have to worry.”

“I didn’t think,” Ariel smiled. “I just didn’t wanna risk losing you.”

“I can’t lose you,” the Doctor insisted. “You would die. I wouldn’t. Don’t do something like that to me.”

“I can’t exactly promise something like that,” Ariel grinned. She kissed him sweetly. “You’re just gonna have to put up with me not wanting you to die.”

The Doctor sighed softly and genuinely wanted to be upset, but couldn’t even figure out what to argue in that moment. He was sure he would find the chance to be upset later.

Ariel kissed him one more time, wishing she could just stay there and kiss him, wrapped in his arms. When she kissed him she didn’t feel like either of them could die at any moment. She didn’t think about all the pain they would have to face and what could be waiting around the corner to tear them apart. It was just the pair of them together, as it should be.

Eventually, the Doctor stood up and held out his hand to Ariel, helping her to her feet as he went to inspect the blasted heads of the two Cybermen.

“Infostamp with a Cyclo-Steinham core,” the Doctor chuckled. “You ripped open the core and broke the safety. Zap! Only the Doctor would think of that,” he remarked.

“Wait,” Ariel breathed. “If he is the Doctor then that means I’m not with you when you regenerate,” Ariel mumbled. 

The Doctor’s face fell as he realized.

“I did that last time,” the other Doctor mumbled.

“Come here,” the Doctor sighed and pulled out his stethoscope as Ariel took a shaky breath and watched with wide eyes. “You'll be okay. Let me just check,” he said, checking if the man had two hearts.

“You told them you were the Doctor,” the other Doctor frowned. “Why did you do that?” He wondered.

“Oh, I was just protecting you,” the Doctor shrugged.

“And you,” the other Doctor said, pointing a shaky finger at Ariel. “You called him Doctor.”

“I was just helping him protect you,”Ariel nodded, lying to conceal the fact that in her split second of fear, she had slipped up.

“You're trying to take away the only thing I've got, like they did,” the other Doctor breathed. “They stole something, something so precious, but I can't remember. What happened to me? What did they do?” He begged.

“We’ll find out,” the Doctor nodded. “The three of us together,” he said, smiling back at Ariel. “If you could just take us to your Tardis,” the Doctor prompted.

“Right,” the other Doctor sighed. “Of course,” he nodded. “Follow me.”

The other Doctor lead them out of the house and Ariel and the Doctor fell behind him so they could talk.

“So?” Ariel prompted.

“He doesn’t have two hearts,” the Doctor shook his head.

“So, he can’t be you right? I mean his fob watch didn’t have who he was in it and he has no memory past being here. If he doesn’t have two hearts that means his mind wasn’t wiped by the Cybermen,” Ariel said.

“No, his memories weren’t in that fob watch, but I think something else was,” the Doctor mumbled.

“What is it?” Ariel asked. “Doctor?”

“There was a name,” the Doctor sighed. “Jackson Lake.”

Ariel’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God, so-.”

“He’s Jackson Lake,” the Doctor nodded. “He said he had the infostamps on the day the Cybermen attacked him. Maybe, they had an infostamp about me and it just went into his mind, but I’ll have to see the Tardis to know for sure.”

“To know for sure he’s not a Time Lord?” Ariel prompted.

“Not exactly,” the Doctor sighed. “If they beamed the information about the Tardis into his mind, then I need to see what he has in place of a proper Tardis and how he sees it. These infostamps, they can present the facts about me but they can’t make him lose his mind. I need to see why he clung to that life so desperately.”

Ariel nodded. “Right, but he for sure isn’t you?”

“No,” the Doctor shook his head. “Why?”

“It’s just,” Ariel sighed. “I was kinda hoping I would be there for you when you regenerate out of this face. I know I can’t be here forever and there’s no telling how long you’ll have this one, but I just wanted to be there for you if I could. Everytime he kept saying her recognized you but didn’t recognize me,” Ariel shook her head. “It freaked me out. I didn’t want him to be the Doctor because I didn’t want to face the fact that you’ll probably forget me.”

“Oh,” the Doctor sighed, wrapping his arm around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I could never forget you,” he assured her.

Ariel grinned up at him and kissed him sweetly, extremely grateful that she had fallen for one of the most beautiful men in the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually didn't really want to write this episode at first because I didn't like it, then I rewatched it and it made me so sad I had to. It's such a great special. Also, Ariel will be meeting the Master in case you were wondering.
> 
> Her meeting with him will actually fall right into the next part of this series, but once again, if you want a story of non-canonical adventures or adventures that are in the comics, I can add that to this series too. It might help if you don't like how Ariel and the Doctor have developed and you want more background for them.
> 
> If you don't feel the need for more background on them and you like them together, then thank you so much because I think the relationships are always my weakest points in stories.


	39. A Christmas Feast

As they approached the stables, Rosita ran out and hugged the other Doctor. 

“Doctor!” Rosita exclaimed. “I thought you were dead!” She cried and as she hugged him, the other Doctor just looked uncomfortable.

“Now then, Rosita,” the other Doctor sighed. “A little decorum,” he instructed.

Ariel snorted. “Yeah, definitely not you,” she mumbled and the Doctor snickered, nudging her playfully.

“You've been gone for so long,” Rosita sighed and peered around the other Doctor at the couple. “He's always doing this, leaving me behind. Going frantic,” she said.

“Oh, he used to do that to me all the time,” Ariel giggled. 

“Oi!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Oh, don’t act like you didn’t,” Ariel moaned. “The first time with the Daleks?” She prompted.

“Yeah, alright, I deserve that one,” the Doctor nodded.

“What about the Tardis?” The other Doctor asked Rosita.

“Oh, she’s ready,” Rosita smiled. “Come on.”

“I’m looking forward to this,” the Doctor mumbled.

“That makes two of us,” Ariel nodded.

They followed the other Doctor and Rosita in the stables where instead of houses it looked as though it had been converted into a temporary home for the next Doctor.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look at the sight. Across from the stables, there was luggage piled up. Whatever the Tardis was, he clearly couldn’t live in it like the Doctor  and Ariel did.

“You were right though, Rosita,” the other Doctor nodded. “The Reverend Fairchild's death was the work of the Cybermen.”

“Yeah, getting past them was the fun bit,” Ariel mumbled sarcastically.

“So, you live here?” The Doctor frowned, glancing around the area curiously.

“A temporary base, until we rout the enemy,” the other Doctor nodded. “The Tardis is magnificent, but it's hardly a home.”

Ariel snorted. Ironically, the Tardis was where she and the Doctor lived. She couldn’t exactly live in the home her mother had owned with no job or any form of income. She knew she would have to go back soon so she could get all of her stuff before the bank could get their hands on it, but there was no way she could afford to live there on her own. Her only home was on the Tardis with the Doctor, and she knew the Doctor didn’t stay still long enough to have a proper home outside of the Tardis.

“And where’s the Tardis now?” The Doctor asked.

“In the yard,” the other Doctor nodded.

The Doctor nodded and peered around the room at all the luggage piled up, there was an awful lot of it.

“Er, what’s all this luggage?” The Doctor asked.

“Are these someone else’s belongings?” Ariel frowned.

“Evidence. The property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered,” the other Doctor replied.

“Blimey,” Ariel hummed.

The Doctor nodded and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, beginning to scan the luggage.

“Oh, but my new friends are fighter, Rosita, much like myself,” the other Doctor beamed, ignoring the couple searching through his belongings. “He faced the Cybermen with a cutlass and she held no weapon but threw herself before them. “I'm not ashamed to say, they were braver than myself. They were quite brilliant,” the other Doctor said.

The other Doctor frowned and stood up straighter as he listened to the Doctor scanning the luggage.

Ariel inhaled sharply as she realized and covered the sonic with her hands once again.

“Are you whistling again?” The other Doctor asked.

“Yes. Yes, I am, yeah. Yeah,” the Doctor said awkwardly. The other Doctor nodded with a small smile and carried on ignoring them.

Meanwhile, Rosita narrowed her eyes at the pair as she watched the Doctor pull his sonic back out and continue to scan. 

Ariel turned to her and placed her finger on her lips with wide eyes.

“That’s another man’s property,” Rosita said with a small frown.

“Well, a dead man’s,” the Doctor shrugged as he opened the suitcase he was getting a signal from. 

Ariel fished through it for him while the Doctor turned to Rosita and the other Doctor to try and learn more information.

“How did you two meet, then?” The Doctor asked, glancing at the pair of them.

“He saved my life,” Rosita smiled. “Late one night, by the Osterman's Wharf, this creature came out of the shadows. A man made of metal. I thought I was going to die. And then, there he was. The Doctor,” she grinned. Ariel glanced back at the woman and beamed at her. The way she spoke about the other Doctor could’ve only meant one thing: she had a crush on him.

Ariel knew that overwhelming pride and awe all too well

“Can you help him, sir?” Rosita asked, frowning in concern. “He has such terrible dreams. Wakes at night in such a state of terror.”

“Come now, Rosita,” the other Doctor sighed. “With all the things a Time Lord has seen, everything he's lost, he may surely have bad dreams.”

Ariel watched the Doctor carefully as his posture fell and she winced. She hated thinking about the Doctor waking up in the middle of the night and screaming. She wanted to help him and yet sometimes it felt like he was putting on a facade so she would feel better. She wanted to be there for him completely, no matter how bad it may get.

Ariel tried to remember if she had ever seen any signs in the Doctor that he was having nightmares like her own, and realized the only time she had ever been around him when he was sleeping was last night. She smiled softly. Either he was really quiet and hardly moved an inch while having nightmares or he didn’t have nightmares when sleeping with her. 

She didn’t doubt that he had nightmares. In fact, she knew she should’ve considered it early, but it was nice to think that her sleeping by his side may have provided some comfort through the night.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed.

Ariel’s eyes widened as she spotted a small metal tube underneath one of the shirts in the suitcase. “Doc-John?” Ariel prompted and the Doctor turned around with wide eyes.

“Oh, now. Look,” the Doctor hummed as he took the infostamp from Ariel and held it up for Rosita and the other Doctor to see. “Jackson Lake had an infostamp.”

“But how?” The other Doctor frowned. “Is it significant?”

“One thing I’ve learned is that the little things are the most significant,” Ariel nodded.

“Doctor, the answer to all this is in your Tardis,” the Doctor said. “Can we see it?” He asked.

“Mister Smith, Miss Ariel, it would be my honour,” the other Doctor grinned at them.

The other Doctor lead them out into the yard and beamed at his Tardis. “There she is,” the other Doctor nodded, gesturing proudly to it. “My transport through time and space. The Tardis.”

The Doctor and Ariel walked out to see an elaborately patterned, but mostly blue, Montgolfière-style hot air balloon.

“You’ve got a balloon,” the Doctor breathed and Ariel had to cover her mouth and bite back laughter at the sight.

It was nothing personal against Jackson Lake, she just realized that he was right. The hot air balloon certainly wasn’t a home, but may not get him very far through the Time Vortex.

“Tardis,” the other Doctor nodded. “T A R D I S. It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style. Do you see?” He smiled.

“Well, I do now,” the Doctor sighed.

“I like the ‘In Style’ bit,” Ariel remarked. If the Doctor was right, that man was using that life as an escape or way to run away from something, he would need all the encouragement he could get.

“I like it,” the Doctor smiled and nodded, joining Ariel in her encouragement. “Good Tardis. Brilliant. Nice one. And is it inflated by gas, yeah?”

“We're adjacent to the Mutton Street Gasworks,” the other Doctor replied with a nod. “I pay them a modest fee. Good work, Jed,” he smiled and handed a young man by his side a five pound note.

“Glad to be of service, sir,” Jed smiled.

“You've got quite a bit of money,” the Doctor remarked.

“Oh, you get nothing for nothing,” the other Doctor shrugged as though that kind of money around those times was nothing. “How's that ripped panel, Jed?”

“All repaired,” Jed nodded. “Should work a treat. You never know, maybe tonight's the night, Doctor. Imagine it, seeing Christmas from above,” he sighed.

“Not just yet, I think,” the other Doctor frowned. “One day, I will ascend. One day soon,” he hummed.

Jed nodded his thanks and left as the Doctor and Ariel watched the other Doctor warily.

“You've never actually been up?” The Doctor prompted.

“He dreams of leaving, but never does,” Rosita sighed.

“So, you don’t remember being anywhere but here saving London from the Cyberman?” Ariel asked. “You’ve never left once. Not even, I dunno, to go away for a bit then come back and act like you never left,” she said, glaring at the Doctor, reminding him of when he slipped up and told her that he had left her on her own before then used the time machine to come back.

“I said I was sorry!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Oh, sure but I’m still gonna be watching you next time we go somewhere and you try to leave me alone,” Ariel warned and the Doctor chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

“I can depart in the Tardis once London is safe,” the other Doctor nodded, deciding not to remark on the odd couple again. “And finally, when I'm up there. Think of it, John. The time and the space,” he sighed.

“The perfect escape,” the Doctor nodded. “Do you ever wonder what you're escaping from?” He asked.

“With every moment,” the other Doctor mumbled.

“Then do you want us to tell you? Because I think I've worked it out now,” the Doctor said. “How you became The Doctor. What do you think? Do you want to know?” He asked.

“More than anything,” the other Doctor said.

“Then come on, back into the stables,” Ariel said. “We can show you there.”

The other Doctor and Rosita shared a frown but both nodded and followed the couple into the stables.

Ariel grabbed the infostamp that the Doctor had dropped right on top of Jackson Lake’s opened suitcase and tossed it to him. He nodded his thanks and she took a seat while the Doctor sat on the luggage pile behind her, resting his feet on the sides of Ariel on the chair.

When the other two walked in and took their seats across from the couple, the Doctor sighed and held up the infostamp, juggling it in his hands.

“The story begins with the Cybermen. A long time away, and not so far from here, the Cybermen were fought, and they were beaten. And they were sent into a howling wilderness called The Void, locked inside forever more. But then a greater battle rose up, so great that everything inside the Void perished. But, as the walls of the world weakened, the last of the Cybermen must have fallen through the dimensions, back in time, to land here. And they found you,” the Doctor nodded to Jackson Lake.

“I fought them, I know that,” Jackson sighed, rubbing his head roughly. “But what happened?”

“At the same time, another man came to London. Mister Jackson Lake. Plenty of luggage, money in his pocket. Maybe coming to town for the winter season, I don't know. But he found the Cybermen too. And just like you, exactly like you, he took hold of an infostamp,” the Doctor explained.

“But he's dead,” Jackson frowned. “Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him,” he reasoned.

“Now, we never knew if the Cyberman murdered him,” Ariel reminded him.

“You said no body was ever found,” the Doctor nodded. “And you kept all his suitcases, but you could never bring yourself to open them,” he frowned. “I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see?” He asked.

Jackson nodded and took off his fob watch. He handed it to Ariel who handed it up to the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed softly and flashed the inside to Jackson. Two initials were carved into it: J  L.

“J L,” the Doctor said. “The watch is Jackson Lake’s,” he nodded.

“Jackson Lake is you, sir?” Rosita prompted with a small frown.

“But I’m the Doctor,” Jackson breathed.

“You became the Doctor because the infostamp you picked up was a book about one particular man,” the Doctor said. “Ariel?” He prompted as he dropped the infostamp into her hand.

She pressed the button and projected the footage of each Doctor. From the first appearing as a very old man then slowly occasionally becoming younger, sometimes going back into his sixties throughout each face.

“The Cybermen's database. Stolen from the Daleks inside the Void, I'd say, but it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor,” the Doctor said with a nod.

Eventually, the footage got to Rose’s Doctor and then it showed the Doctor they had both loved. Their Doctor.

“That’s you,” Jackson gasped.

“That’s the Doctor,” Ariel nodded.

“Time Lord, Tardis, enemy of the Cybermen. The one and the only,” the Doctor smirked. “You see, the infostamp must have backfired. Streamed all that information about me right inside your head.”

“I am nothing but a lie,” Jackson sighed.

“Oh, you’re hardly that,” Ariel frowned.

“No, no, no, no, no,” the Doctor shook his head. “Infostamps are just facts and figures. All that bravery. Saving Rosita, defending London town, hmm? And the invention. Building a Tardis. That's all you,” he smiled.

“There’s not many people that could do all that on their own,” Ariel smirked. “Especially a human,” she chuckled.

“And what else?” Jackson asked, sensing they had more to tell him, but he couldn’t remember what. “Tell me what else.”

“There's still something missing, isn't there?” The Doctor implored.

“I demand you tell me, sir,” Jackson snapped. “Tell me what they took.”

“It’s not exactly anything good,” Ariel winced.

“Sorry. Really, I am so sorry, but that's an awful lot of luggage for one man. Because an infostamp is plain technology. It's not enough to make a man lose his mind. What you suffered is called a fugue. A fugue state, where the mind just runs away because it can't bear to look back. You wanted to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel wanted to cry for the poor man.

She understood the feeling of wanting to just run away and cling onto something else other than her own life. It was the reason she and the Doctor were so close. They both complimented each other in that aspect so perfectly.

In the distance, a church bell loudly tolled the hour.

“Midnight,” Rosita breathed. “Christmas Day,” she muttered.

It was at that moment, that Jackson Lake also remembered who he was. “I remember,” he gasped. “Oh, my God. Caroline. They killed my wife. They killed her,” he said, tears beginning to stream down his face.

Before the couple could comfort him, the infostamp in Ariel’s hands beeped loudly flashing a blue light on the end.

“Oh, well now that’s new,” Ariel remarked.

The Doctor jumped up and she tossed the infostamp to him as he scanned for more, a faint beeping audible from Jackson Lake’s luggage. He opened the cases and revealed a lot of infostamps all beeping like the one they had out.

“Oh, you found a whole cache of infostamps,” the Doctor mumbled as Ariel stared at the collection with wide eyes.

“But what is it? What's that noise?” Rosita frowned.

“They must wanted to get the attention of every Cyberman,” Ariel muttered.

“Activation,” the Doctor breathed. “A call to arms. The Cybermen are moving!” He exclaimed. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and the pair bolted out to the street.

Rather than dozens of Cybermen marching past, there were armies of children all looking terrified as they continued walking.

“Jackson said something about the children,” Ariel remembered. 

“Yeah, but why are they here? Why is this signal about them and not Cybermen?” The Doctor wondered.

“Maybe, conversion?” Ariel suggested. 

“No, the Cybermen usually don’t take children. At least not that I know of,” the Doctor said.

“Well, that’s the only good thing about them it seems,” Ariel sighed.

Just then, Rosita came running up to their side, watching the children march with wide eyes.

“What is it? What's happening?” Rosita asked frantically and inhaled sharply when she saw an old man with a top hat marching amongst the kids. “That's Mister Cole. He's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse. Maybe he's taking them to prayers.”

“Oh, nothing as holy as that,” the Doctor sighed and they all ran up to the man.

“Can you hear me?” The Doctor asked, waving his hand in front of Mister Cole. In the man’s ears, there was something that looked a Bluetooth with a flashing light but Ariel guessed it was nothing as innocent as that. Probably a quick way for the Cybermen to get soldiers without fully converting them completely into those metal men. If the Doctor was right and they were nothing more than scavengers then they probably wouldn’t have the equipment to upgrade everyone they wanted. “Hello? No? Mister Cole, you seem to have something in your ear. Now, this might hurt a bit, but if I can just-,” the Doctor began, pulling out his screwdriver to sonic the device in his ear.

Before he could, a beast similar to the one they had seen earlier came out of the shadows and growled at the trio.

“Ah. They're on guard,” the Doctor sighed. “Can't risk a fight. Not with the children.”

“We need to get them out of here,” Ariel mumbled, staring at the terrified little kids. They probably had no idea what was going on but were far too afraid to try an run away. Ariel didn’t want to think about how the Cybermen had made them so terrified to act out.

“But where are they going?” Rosita wondered.

“They all need a good whipping, if you ask me,” Jed said, walking up to the trio and glaring at the kids. “There's tons of them. I've just seen another lot coming down from the Ingleby Workhouse down Broadback Lane.”

“Coming down?” Ariel echoed with wide eyes. 

The Doctor realized what Ariel meant and his eyes widened as he turned back to Rosita and Jed. “Where’s that?!” He exclaimed.

“This way!” Rosita said, waving the pair behind them. They all ran down to the lane to see tons of kids being escorted into a nearby building.

Ariel stared at them with wide eyes. “What do they need all those kids for?” She wondered.

“There’s dozens of them,” Rosita breathed.

“We need to get closer,” the Doctor nodded. “Come on,” he said, grabbing Ariel’s hand and running through a gap in the children to get near a concealed area of the building, covered by hay that they could watch the entrance from.

“That's the door to the sluice,” Rosita nodded to the entrance that two Cybermen were guarding and the children were marching into. “All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames.”

“And life would be so much easier if we could just follow them inside,” Ariel sighed.

“Yeah, that's too well guarded,” the Doctor muttered. “We'll have to find another way in.”

They all started walking back when they were spotted by two more Cybermen on guard.

“Whoa!” The Doctor exclaimed. “That's cheating, sneaking up. Do you have your legs on silent?” He asked and Ariel snickered.

“So, what do we have here?” A woman asked, coming into view she stood between the two Cybermen, she donned completely red attire but had raven black hair.

“Listen,” the Doctor breathed, leaning forward with wide eyes and extending his hand to the woman. “Just walk towards me slowly. Don't let them touch you,” he instructed.

“Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys. They are my knights in shining armour, quite literally,” the red woman chuckled.

“Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber speech pattern. You've still got free will. I'm telling you, step away,” the Doctor said.

“There's been no conversion, sir,” the red woman shook her head, seeming to be highly amused by the Doctor trying to save her. “No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation,” she smiled.

“Who are you?” Rosita breathed.

“You can be quiet,” the red woman snapped. “I doubt he paid you to talk.”

“Excuse me?!” Ariel exclaimed. “Who the hell are you?”

“Obviously he care much more for you seeing as he hasn’t let go of you for a single second,” the red woman smiled. “But my identity is not of importance right now. What’s important is the question of who you are, sir, with such intimate knowledge of my companions.”

“I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor said.

“Incorrect,” the Cyberman to the left of the red woman said. “You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor.”

“Yeah, but that's because your database got corrupted,” the Doctor sighed. He pulled out the infostamp they had gotten from Jackson’s luggage. “Oh, look, look, look. Check this. The Doctor's infostamp,” he said, tossing it to the Cyberman. “Plug it in. Go on. Download,” he nodded.

“The core has been damaged. This infostamp would damage Cyberunits,” the Cyberman said.

“Oh, well,” the Doctor sighed.

“Nice try,” Ariel giggled.

“Core repaired. Download,” the Cyberman announced before plugging the infostamp into his chest.

“I wonder if I have an infostamp,” Ariel speculated.

“Probably,” the Doctor nodded. “You’ll have a big impact on the universe. It probably exists somewhere in the future.”

“Huh,” Ariel said. “Makes me feel a bit famous. Not in a good way but, oh, you know what I mean,” she shrugged and the Doctor just chuckled.

“You are the Doctor,” the Cyberman said when it finished the download.

“Hello,” the Doctor smiled, waving adorably at them.

“You will be deleted,” the Cyberman said before it and the other Cyberman beside the red woman started marching forward.

The Doctor jumped back and used his arm to shield Ariel. “No, no. Oh, but let me die happy. Tell me, what do you need those children for?” The Doctor wondered.

“What are children ever needed for?” The red woman scoffed. “They're a workforce,” she said as though that was obvious.

“But what for?” The Doctor implored.

“Yeah, what are the Cybermen building?” Ariel asked.

“Very soon now, the whole Empire will see,” the red woman hummed. “And they will bow down in worship.”

“And it's all been timed for Christmas Day,” the Doctor nodded. “Was that your idea, Miss ?” He prompted.

“Hartigan,” the woman smiled, seeming delighted that the Doctor asked for her name. “Yes,” she nodded. “The perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. Only this time, it won't be the words of a man.”

“The birth of what?” The Doctor frowned.

“Miss Hartigan, what have you planned for Christmas Day?” Ariel asked, genuinely concerned about what was about to happen.

“A birth, and a death,” Miss Hartigan nodded. “Namely, yours. Thank you, Doctor. I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation. Now, delete them,” she instructed the Cybermen.

The Cybermen began marching forward again and the Doctor stepped in front of Ariel, shielding her from the Cybermen. However, before they could get close enough, a bright beam shot up and lit up both their heads before they exploded just like the ones in the Reverend’s house.

Ariel’s eyes widened and she leant forward to see Jackson running in with a large grin and a bandolier of infostamps.

“At your service, Doctor,” Jackson grinned with a slight bow.

“Shades!” Miss Hartigan shouted. “Shades!”

“Run!” The Doctor cried. “Come on!” He screamed, grabbing Ariel’s hand and running past Miss Hartigan with the other two following closely behind.

“Shades!” Miss Hartigan screamed.

“One last thing,” Rosita said, holding up a finger and skidding to a stop beside Miss Hartigan. She punched Miss Hartigan hard in the face and made the woman fall to the ground. 

“Can I say, I completely disapprove,” the Doctor sighed.

“I don’t!” Ariel exclaimed with a laugh. “That was brilliant, bloody hell!”

Rosita laughed. “I had to,” she breathed.

The Doctor shook his head and tried to act like he severely disliked the unnecessary violence.

“Oh, Doctor, one quick punch. Miss Hartigan deserved that much for what she said to her,” Ariel nodded 

The Doctor just chuckled and let out a soft sigh. “Come on,” he said, grabbing Ariel’s hand once again and running forward.

They ran until they were certain they had lost the Cybermen and the Doctor sighed as he surveilled his surroundings. Jackson ran up last.  He had been making sure they were safe, holding out infostamps at the ready in case.

Jackson watched as the Doctor stood as close to Ariel as humanly possible, he whispered in her ear and she giggled delightfully, whatever he was saying inaudible to Jackson, but the message was clear: the Doctor didn’t treat his companions the way he had been treating Rosita. 

Jackson sighed softly and turned to the woman. “I’d like to formally apologize. It was clear the way I treated you was wrong and I should wish to amend my errors.”

Rosita smiled. “It’s not a problem,” she nodded.

Jackson sighed and nodded at the woman before stepping forward to the couple. Ariel was laughing at whatever the Doctor had told her, but that laughter quickly ceased the moment Jackson stepped forward looking anxious. He raised an eyebrow at the pair and the Doctor took a deep breath and moved to Jackson’s side.

“That stronghold down by the river,” the Doctor said, pointing in the direction Jackson needed to be looking. “We need to find a way in.”

“I'm ahead of you,” Jackson nodded. He pulled some parchment out of his coat and Ariel frowned, moving to the Doctor’s side to see whatever Jackson was handing him. “My wife and I were moving to London so I could take up a post at the university. And while my memory is still not intact, this was in the luggage. The deeds. Fifteen Latimer Street. And if I discovered the Cybermen there, in the cellar, then-,” he began and the Doctor was already ahead of him as the couple looked over the deeds.

“That might be our way in,” the Doctor nodded, grinning at him and Ariel as he passed the deed to her to read. “Brilliant.”

“Good job, Jackson!” Ariel exclaimed, pulling the man into a hug as she passed his deeds back to him.

Jackson chuckled and nodded as he put the deed back in his coat. “There's still more. I remember the cellar and my wife, but I swear there was something else in that room. If we can find that, perhaps that's the key to defeating these invaders,” he proposed. “So, onwards!” He exclaimed, marching forward past the group.

“Y’know, he’s taking this really well,” Ariel remarked.

“To each his own,” the Doctor shrugged, grabbing her hand and running forward. He slowed momentarily at the sight of Rosita. “Maybe you should go back-,” he began and Rosita just shook her head.

“Don’t even try,” Rosita snapped, running after Jackson.

Ariel smacked the Doctor’s arm. “Little bit of advice, most people don’t like you taking all the risk and feeling like a tagalong.”

“You try to keep people safe,” the Doctor sighed. He just shook his head and they followed Jackson to 15 Latimer Street.

Jackson lead them in through the cellar, and as expected there was a Cyberman there waiting for them.

“Delete!” The Cyberman cried, but before it could do anything, Jackson pulled the seal on one of the infostamps and blew up its head.

The Doctor’s eyes widened as he ran forward to a small high tech device in the center of the room.

“What is it?” Ariel asked.

“A Dimension Vault,” the Doctor replied. “Stolen from the Daleks again. That's how the Cybermen travelled through time. Jackson, is this it? The thing you couldn't remember?” He wondered as he devoted half his attention to the device and fine tuning it.

“I don't think so,” Jackson shook his head. “I just can't see. It's like it's hidden,” he mumbled.

“Can you get it working?” Ariel asked.

“Not enough power!” The Doctor snapped, hitting the device roughly. He sighed and turned back to them. “Come on! Avanti!”

“Oh, Italian, now?” Ariel sighed and the Doctor just laughed, grabbing her hand and running out with Rosita and Jackson.

They headed out and the Doctor stared at the building with wide eyes. He still didn’t have a perfect way in.

Ariel frowned as she leant over a bridge to peered at the Thames, at the time nothing more than an open sewer.

“Doctor, the sewers!” Ariel exclaimed. “The sewer system wasn’t rectified until the Great Stink in 1858!” She cried and the Doctor frowned at her.

“You really love Victorian Times,” the Doctor remarked.

Ariel laughed. “Right now, it’s useful. One of Prince Albert’s passions was public health but no matter what, Parliament wouldn’t respond. I think it was just ‘cos it was full of a load of tories but nevertheless, they only responded in 1858 just four years before Prince Albert died because of the Great Stink when the tories were so afraid for their own health that they donated their money to a sewer system to close off the waste.”

“Blimey, you should probably meet the man,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel giggled. “Nevertheless, it is useful. Come on, into the sewers,” he instructed the others and they looked at him as though he had gone mad. “What? It was her idea,” he insisted.

“Oh, throw me under a bus will you?!” Ariel exclaimed, slapping the Doctor’s arm playfully. “It’s the only route that the Cybermen won’t guard and since it’s open ended we can just pop right in.”

Jackson and Rosita looked hesitant but eventually obliged and they headed in through the sewers.

Luckily, there were no rats. It was gross, but she didn’t want to see any vermin running past her.

“What do the Cybermen want?” Rosita wondered.

“They want us,” the Doctor sighed. “That's what Cybermen are. Human beings with their brains put into metal shells. They want every living thing to be like them,” he said.

“All the more reason to hate them,” Ariel nodded.

They reached the end of the sewers and peered at the child labourers and what they were working on from the opening. It seemed like a mini factory and yet every wheel was turning for the same engine. It was maddening to even look at let alone imagine little children working on.

“Upon my soul,” Jackson gasped.

“This is horrible,” Ariel murmured.

“What is it?” Rosita asked.

“It's an engine,” the Doctor muttered. “They're generating electricity, but what for?”

“You said they were displaced in time and probably don’t have a lot of numbers, maybe they’re trying to make conversion her in London,” Ariel proposed.

“Possibly, but they wouldn’t need this much labour and they would be spread out not all clumped together like this. Plus, why would they use children?” The Doctor frowned. “This just doesn’t make any sense,” he mumbled.

“We can set them free,” Jackson breathed.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” the Doctor said, heading back to a small panel with the power they were using for the engine in front of them.

“To be clear, he was saying we can’t set them free  _ yet _ ,” Ariel clarified. “Please don’t think he some sociopath that would let the kids die,” she frowned. She watched the pair for a moment before sighing softly and nodded, heading back to the Doctor.

“What is it?” Ariel asked. “How much power are they using for that thing?”

“Power at ninety percent,” the Doctor murmured. “But if we stop the engine, the power dies down, the Cybermen'll come running,” he sighed.

“Well, is there anyway we could just get the kids out, shut the power off, then-,” Ariel began but the Doctor held up a hand as the screen on the controls blipped like it was being shut down then trying to reroute itself once again.

“Ooo. Hold on. Wait a minute,” the Doctor frowned. “Power fluctuation. That's not meant to happen.”

“It’s going wrong,” Jackson guessed.

“No, it's weird,” the Doctor muttered. “The software's rewriting itself. It's changing.”

“It’s probably for whatever they’re powering,” Ariel shrugged.

“But what could use this much power?” The Doctor mumbled.

“Do you remember the Cybermen ever building something that took a lot of power in the past? Maybe, they’re trying to mirror that now?” Ariel guessed with a shrug.

“A few, yeah,” the Doctor hummed. “But I’m not sure how they’d do any of them in the Victorian era.”

All of a sudden, the control panel banged like a spark shooting out of it and a small wisp of smoke flew from it.

“Whoa!” The Doctor exclaimed. “What the hell's happening? It's out of control,” he sighed.

“It's accelerating,” Jackson nodded, pointing to the percentages on the screen. “Ninety six percent, ninety seven,” he read.

“Blimey, someone’s in a hurry,” Ariel remarked.

“When it reaches a hundred, what about the children?” Rosita asked.

“They’re disposable,” the Doctor breathed. “Come on!” He called to Rosita and Jackson as he grabbed Ariel’s hand.

As they hopped out of the sewers, a klaxon sounded and all the children stopped working and looked around in alarm.

“Delete. Delete,” all the Cybermen monitoring their work chorused.

“Run!” Ariel screamed. “Just run!” She cried, bolting up to them desperately as the laxon blared in their ears and the Cybermen stood menacingly over the kids.

The children didn’t need to be told twice. Rosita and Jackson took care of the Cybermen while the children bolted out of the building.

“Get out onto the street!” Ariel screamed. “Just get out! Don’t look back just run!”

“All of you, out! Do you hear me? That's an order!” The Doctor shouted. “Every single one of you, run!”

“All of you, come on, as fast as you can. Come on!” Jackson snapped.

“There's a hot pie for everyone, if you leg it!” The Doctor called.

“Go!” Jackson screamed.

The Doctor ran over to Rosita and took a deep breath. “Rosita, get them out of sluice gate. Once you're out, keep running. Far as you can! Come on, come on, come on,” the Doctor sighed. “Ariel!” He called.

Ariel spun around and looked at him with wide eyes, she had been helping the children out but right then he needed her.

She nodded and ran to him. They both stopped in a small corridor with controls and a better outlay of what they were powering.

“What is that engine for?” Ariel asked. “I know it’s nothing good, but seeing as it’s massive, it’s gotta be for something much larger.”

“It's some sort of starter motor, but starting what?” The Doctor frowned.

Ariel sighed and peered at the controls. “It’s gotta be something massive, but what and how has this gone unnoticed for so long?”

“The children,” the Doctor breathed.

“What was that?” Ariel prompted.

“The Cybermen converted ordinary men, killing some even. Why? Because they were connected to children. Anyone that would be likely to find out is dead or converted,” the Doctor said.

“Yes, of course!” Ariel exclaimed with a small grin in understanding. “But why go to these extreme measures? What could be this important?”

Meanwhile, across the engine house, Jackson was finally getting the last of his memories back. “My son,” Jackson gasped. “Doctor, my son!”

The Doctor was distracted by the controls and hadn’t heard what Jackson said. Ariel tugged on his arm and the Doctor frowned.

“What?” The Doctor asked.

“Jackson just said he had a son,” Ariel breathed.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “What?” The Doctor deadpanned, horrified at the fact that a man who was the only parent left for a child is putting his life at risk.

“Avanti!” Ariel cried, tugging him forward.

The Doctor laughed at her use of the Italian phrase as they ran up to Jackson and he explained the memory.

“They took my son. No wonder my mind escaped. Those damned Cybermen, they took my child! But he's alive, Doctor. Frederick!” Jackson called up to a young blonde boy standing atop a platform high above the machine.

The Doctor ran to the floor just below Frederick and held out his arms. “Come on!” The Doctor called, but the boy just stayed in his place.

“You can do it!” Ariel insisted.

“No, he's too scared. Stay there! Don't move!” Jackson called to his son. “I'm coming,” he said, running up to the staircase by the platform.

Before he could even get a foot on the staircase, an explosion knocking him down and set fire to the stairs making him unable to climb up.

Ariel and the Doctor ran up to Jackson and helped him up. “I can’t get up there,” Jackson breathed. “Fred!” He called, pushing back against the Doctor and Ariel to try and get up to him.

“No, you can’t!” Ariel exclaimed, pushing Jackson back.

“They've finished with the motor,” the Doctor sighed. “It's going to blow up.”

“What are we going to do, Doctor? What are we going to do?” Jackson asked desperately, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.

“Ah, don’t be upset. The Doctor takes care of everyone,” Ariel nodded.

The Doctor grinned at them and drew out his cutlass.

Ariel’s smile fell as she stared at him. “Hold on, have you had that on you the whole time?”

“Every second,” the Doctor smirked and winked at her, making her roll her eyes with an amused grin.

“Doctor, please save him,” Jackson begged.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and ran up to one of the ropes. “Come on, Jackson,” the Doctor sighed. “You know me.”

The Doctor wrapped his arm around Ariel’s waist firmly and cut the rope, sending them soaring into the air to see Frederick.

“Oh, that’s it,” the Doctor sighed when they reached the platform.

“Hi,” Ariel grinned as they ran onto the platform Frederick was too scared to leave. “I’m Ariel and this is the Doctor,” she introduced to the small boy.

“Hello,” the Doctor smiled.

“I take it you’re Frederick?” Ariel prompted.

The boy nodded nervously.

“Brilliant,” Ariel smiled. “We’re gonna take you back to your father, alright?” She prompted and the boy nodded once again. “Okay,” she sighed. “I’m gonna have to hold you so we can swing on the rope and get you down, okay?”

Frederick nodded and Ariel picked him him in her arms. Frederick clung tightly to her shoulders in fear.

“Now, hold on tight,” the Doctor instructed with a nod. “Don't let go,” he said as he pulled the rope back to them.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around Ariel’s waist and with hand she held onto the rope, with the other she held onto Frederick’s back.

They swung across the vault and landed with a sigh. Ariel ran up to Jackson and placed Frederick in his arms.

“Merry Christmas,” the Doctor smiled, wrapping his arm around Ariel’s shoulders.

“Unfortunately, it’s not over yet,” Ariel sighed. “We have to get outside and see whatever they’re building.”

“Right,” Jackson muttered. “Yes, of course.”

“Come on, we should be able to get back through the sewers. It’s probably the safest route,” Ariel said. “I hope Frederick doesn’t mind walking through the much a bit,” she smirked.

“I don’t, Miss,” Frederick smiled kindly at her.

“Well, that’s very brave of you. I was terrified I would face some rats,” Ariel grinned.

“Thank you,” Jackson nodded. “Both of you,” he sighed. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“Consider it a Christmas present,” the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly.

Jackson smiled and nodded and they headed to the cellars. Before they approached whatever the Cybermen were doing, the Doctor insisted on a stop to the cellar to see the Dimension Vault.

They obliged and Jackson stood outside with Frederick watching out for them.

“Come on, Doctor. Hurry up!” Jackson cried.

The Doctor flipped a few switches and pulled a long thin piece from the Vault. 

“What’s that?” Ariel asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” the Doctor smirked. “Come on,” the Doctor nodded.

They all ran out to the street just in time to see a large very steampunk Cyberman arise from the waters of the Thames.

“What the hell is that?” Ariel gasped.

The steampunk Cyberman towered over everyone and everything, likely just taller than a skyscraper.

“It’s a CyberKing,” the Doctor sighed.

“And a CyberKing is what?” Jackson asked.

“It's a ship,” the Doctor replied. “Dreadnought class. Front line of an invasion. And inside the chest, a Cyberfactory, ready to convert millions.”

“Oh, God,” Ariel breathed. “What should we do?”

“Just head south. Take him south. Go to the parkland,” the Doctor instructed Jackson and Frederick. “And you, head back to the Tardis. Emergency Protocol One will take you home.”

“The Tardis is my home!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Where are you going?!” Jackson cried.

“To stop that thing,” the Doctor sighed.

“But we should be with you,” Jackson said, glancing at Ariel and the Doctor.

“Jackson, you’ve got your son,” the Doctor said. “You’ve got a reason to live. And Ariel, you’ve got a future. I’ve lived a long life. You’d be better off without me in the long run.”

“No,” Ariel said. 

“Sorry?” The Doctor prompted.

“I haven’t got a future,” Ariel shook her head. “Not without you. I can’t face surviving without you. Don’t make me.”

The Doctor took a shuddering breath. It had been so long since he had something live for, and now his reason was staring up at him with wide grey eyes. 

He bolted forward and captured her lips in a searing kiss that made Jackson grin in pride at them.

The Doctor pulled away with a sigh and rested his forehead against Ariel’s, delicately brushing her cheekbone with his thumb. “Okay,” he breathed and she grinned.

“God save you. Both of you,” Jackson said as the pair grabbed each other’s hands and ran down the street back to the stables.

“Do you have a plan?!” Ariel called.

“No, it’s a thing. It’s like a plan but I don’t know if it’ll actually work out,” the Doctor sighed.

“Alright,” Ariel nodded. “So long as you don’t try to force me into that dead ordinary life without you.”

The Doctor grinned and stopped for a moment, turning her to face him and cupping her cheek delicately. 

“Just in case we don’t both survive, just know that I love you. More than anything, I love you,” the Doctor nodded.

Ariel smiled and kissed him quickly, her cold breath brushing his soft lips as she pulled away and glanced at him. “We’ll survive this,” Ariel nodded. “We will. We can do this together.”

The Doctor grinned and placed one more kiss on her forehead before grabbing her hand once again and running back to the stables.

Once they got inside, the Doctor threw the item from the Dimension Vault onto one of the suitcases and started rifling through the luggage.

“Are you gonna tell me what the hell that thing is?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“If I can get high enough and have enough infostamps,” the Doctor sighed, grinning as he pulled out another bandolier of infostamps. “I’ll be able to stop it,” he nodded.

All of a sudden, Jed ran into the room and pointed out to the sound of the CyberKing marching through London with wide eyes. “What the hell is that thing, sir?!” Jed exclaimed.

“Oh, good man, Jed!” The Doctor cried. “I need your help!”

“I’m not going out there,” Jed shook his head. 

“I’ll give you five pound notes,” the Doctor said.

Jed looked as though he sincerely didn’t want to risk his life for the money, but sincerely knew he needed it so he let out a sigh and looked up at the Doctor.

“Er. Alright. What do you want me to do?” Jed asked.

“The Tardis is going to fly,” the Doctor said with a grin.

Jed’s eyes widened but he nodded and ran out to the yard to get the balloon ready.

While he was gone, Ariel ran up to the Doctor and cupped his cheek, smiling up at him. 

“Giant CyberKing?” Ariel prompted, wondering how this ranked on ways they could die. They had been traveling together long enough to begin to gather a list.

“Better than death by Daleks,” the Doctor nodded.

“Though less strange than death by Ood somehow,” Ariel remarked with a smirk.

“Especially Ood possessed by the Devil,” the Doctor chuckled.

Ariel smiled softly. “Promise me we’ll come back from this,” she breathed. “Even if it’s not true. I just need to hear it.”

“We’ll come back from this,” the Doctor nodded.

Ariel grinned. “Thank you,” she breathed and kissed the Doctor. “Ah, either way it’s not so bad dying to save Queen Victoria. There are worse ways to go,” she said. “Like tripping over a brick,” she giggled.

“Depends on the brick,” the Doctor grinned. 

“Depends on the trip,” Ariel nodded. She took a deep breath and grabbed the item from the Dimension Vault. “Well, then, onwards,” she smiled.

“Onwards,” the Doctor smirked. He grabbed her hand and they marched out to Jackson’s Tardis.

Ariel handed the item from the Dimension Vault to Jed as she and the Doctor climbed into the basket of the hot air balloon.

The Doctor caught her as she slid inside and secured everything he could.

“You’re flaming bonkers, the pair of you,” Jed remarked.

“It’s been said before,” the Doctor nodded.

“And far more than once,” Ariel smirked.

“Now give me,” the Doctor said, reaching out for the item from the Dimension Vault like a small child. He rattled the item by his ear and it whirred softly. “Not enough power,” he mumbled bitterly.

“Gotta charge up?” Ariel guessed.

“Mmm,” the Doctor nodded.

“Well, I’m hoping you have a back-up plan because I haven’t got much right now,” Ariel shrugged.

“I’ll tell you on the way up,” the Doctor muttered. “Come on, Jed!” He exclaimed. “Let her loose!”

Jed did as he asked and frowned at the pair as they began to ascend. “Have either of you flown one of these before?”

“Nope,” the Doctor shook his head. 

“Never,” Ariel shrugged.

“Can I have my money now?” Jed asked, assuming they wouldn’t land.

“Oh, get on with it,” the Doctor snapped while Ariel snickered.

“Blimey, you’ve certainly got your priorities right, mate,” Ariel chuckled.

Jed just laughed as they began to fall out of earshot. “Good luck to the pair of you!” Jed called.

“Okay, so what’s this master plan?” Ariel asked.

“Well, I dunno if I’d call it a master plan,” the Doctor smirked. “But it’s a backup plan for however long this thing takes to charge,” he said, kicking the item from the Dimension Vault.

“Which is?” Ariel prompted.

“Disconnect Miss Hartigan from the Cyber-connection with the infostamps,” the Doctor began.

“So, they did convert her,” Ariel nodded.

“I sort of assumed after she said they would off her liberation. The Cybermen don’t just keep people around because they’re pleasant company. They can’t feel anything,” the Doctor muttered.

“What is it with the aliens constantly wearing armor and their hatred of emotions,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor chuckled. “Anyway, I’m gonna disconnect her if that thing doesn’t charge up and give her a chance to see what she became.”

“That’ll kill her,” Ariel sighed. “Why don’t people ever listen?” She wondered.

“I’ve been asking that question for nine hundred years,” the Doctor smirked. “But the item from the Dimension Vault sends them to the Time Vortex.”

“Where they’ll slowly be able to break to pieces, right,” Ariel nodded.

“I just hope none of that is necessary,” the Doctor sighed.

Ariel smiled softly and cupped his cheek. “You can do this. We’ll do this together,” she nodded. She kissed him softly. “Like I said in the Library, we’re in this together.”

The Doctor smiled and kissed her quickly as they reach the top of the CyberKing and there was barely a moment before it turned to them, crushing who knows what beneath its feet as fire raged through all of London.

“Excellent. The Doctor,” Miss Hartigan hummed. Only, it wasn’t Miss Hartigan anymore. Her eyes were as black as coal and she was wired into the throne she sat upon with Cybermen flanking her on both sides. “Yet another man come to assert himself against me in the night. And Miss Parsons, the damsel in distress has come to prove her worth.”

“Fuck you, I’m not a damsel in distress!” Ariel snapped.

“And you will go great lengths to prove that to yourself,” Miss Hartigan scoffed. “You would do most anything to save your dear Doctor wouldn’t you?” She said. “I see you becoming what you have always feared just to save him. This knowledge makes me wonder, what makes the three of us so different?” She implored.

Ariel heard her heart thrumming in her ears as the Doctor grabbed her hand and squeezed three times to reassure her.

“Miss Hartigan?” The Doctor prompted. “I'm offering you a choice. You might have the most remarkable mind this world has ever seen. Strong enough to control the Cybermen themselves,” he said.

“I don’t need you to sanction me,” Miss Hartigan scoffed.

“No, but such a mind deserves to live. The Cybermen came to this world using a Dimension vault. I can use that device to find you a home, with no people to convert, but a new world where you can live out your mechanical life in peace,” the Doctor promised.

“You don’t have to destroy this world,” Ariel nodded. “You can have a world of your own.”

“I have the world below, and it is abundant with so many minds ready to become extensions of me. Why would I leave this place?” Miss Hartigan wondered.

“Because if you don't, I'll have to stop you,” the Doctor warned.

“What do you make of me, sir? An idiot?” Miss Hartigan implored.

“Far from it,” Ariel shook her head.

“The question is, what do you make of me?” The Doctor asked.

Miss Hartigan seemed to grow bored of talking to the couple. “Destroy them,” she instructed. “Let’s see how far each will go to save the other. It could be quite entertaining.”

The Cybermen stood at arms and the Doctor sighed softly. “You make me into this,” the Doctor said, lifting up the bandolier of infostamps on his arm.

The Doctor fired them all off at Miss Hartigan at once and shot a large beam of blue energy at her Cyber-crown. 

When it ended, he pulled away and the black-eyed Miss Hartigan just laughed mercilessly.

“Then I have made you a failure. Your weapons are useless, sir,” Miss Hartigan said.

“Are they really?” Ariel prompted with a small frown. “Because it did just what we wanted.”

“I wasn't trying to kill you. All I did was break the Cyber-connection, leaving your mind open. Open, I think, for the first time in far too many years. So you can see. Just look at yourself. Look at what you've done,” the Doctor sighed.

Miss Hartigan’s eyes flickered back to their normal human color and stared around at the Cybermen in horror.

“We’re so sorry it had to come to this,” Ariel said, watching Miss Hartigan struggled against the bonds tying her to her throne.

“I'm sorry, Miss Hartigan, but look at what you've become,” the Doctor said.

Miss Hartigan screamed loudly in horror and the electronic scream from their King seemed to have a big effect on the Cybermen.

Ariel just winced back at the sound as the Doctor slumped forward, hating what he had done to her.

“I’m so sorry,” the Doctor mumbled.

Miss Hartigan continued to scream, realizing it was a weapon against the Cybermen and using it to her advantage. Electricity danced around the Cybermen and they all exploded. She also vanished with them. The CyberKing began to sway at the loss of all of its inhabitants.

All of a sudden, the Vault thing started to beep. “Ah, it’s recharged!” Ariel exclaimed with a small smile. She picked up the item and raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. “May I have the honour?”

“Be my guest,” the Doctor smirked, waving her to the front of the basket. 

Ariel grinned and aimed the item at the CyberKing as it began to fall down. Swirls of energy surrounded the CyberKing and slowly it faded from view before vanishing all together, banished to the Time Vortex.

Ariel sighed and tossed the item to the floor of the basket, turning to the Doctor with a small smile as he smirked down at her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

He kissed her softly at first, tentative as he recovered from coaxing Miss Hartigan to kill all the Cybermen, but as he fell into Ariel’s persevering comfort, he also fell into the kiss, deepening in and grinning against her lips.

Down below them, there were distant cheers. The crowd screaming, “bravo,” at the couple.

Ariel pulled away with wide eyes and peered out of the basket to see Jackson had gathered a small crowd all cheering for them.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the edge of the basket so he could see. She watched as he stared down with wide eyes and a faint smile. He deserved to be thanked for all the good he had done and it was nice to see that someone finally recognized that and had done it for him. “They’re cheering for you,” she smiled. 

The Doctor beamed down at them like a small child finally receiving a reward for doing well. He laughed in delight and waved down to the crowd as the Tardis slowly drifted away from them.

~~~

When Ariel and the Doctor left the Tardis, they met with Jackson as the rest of the city went back into their homes for Christmas.

“The city will recover, as London always does. Though the events of today will be history, spoken of for centuries to come,” Jackson smiled.

“Funny that,” the Doctor frowned.

“Ah, Jackson, I’m certain there’ll be stranger things to come. The universe is so much larger than anyone really know,” Ariel grinned.

“You may be right about that,” Jackson nodded. “Nevertheless, history was changed. And a new history begins for me. I find myself a widower, but with my son and with a good friend,” he sighed, smiling as he looked at the end of the street and spotted Rosita carrying Frederick.

“Now, take care of that one. She's marvellous,” the Doctor grinned.

“She knows how to fight,” Ariel nodded. “She’ll definitely teach your son a lot of good too,” she said. “Would you let her take care of him, though? I can understand if you might want to spend more time with him after your wife’s passing.”

“Yes, but Frederick will need a nursemaid and I can think of none better,” Jackson smiled. “But you're welcome to join us. We thought we might all dine together at the Traveller's Halt. A Christmas feast in celebration, and in memory of those we have lost,” he said.

Ariel looked up at the Doctor with a small smile.  While they both thought that sounded marvellous, they knew they couldn’t stay for much longer. They had helped where they could, and it was time for them to depart.

Jackson knew them too well, because he read into their expressions almost immediately. “You won't stay?” Jackson frowned.

“Like I said, you know me,” the Doctor nodded.

“No I don't think anyone does,” Jackson mumbled.

“Oh, come on now, Jackson,” Ariel grinned. “Whole great big universe to see. Can’t stay in one place too long,” she shrugged.

Jackson sighed softly and nodded, but his eyes widened when he spotted the Tardis in an archway they were beginning to pass.

“Oh!” Jackson exclaimed, running up to the Tardis. “And this is it. Oh! Oh, if I might, Doctor. One last adventure?” He requested.

Ariel giggled and the Doctor smiled and nodded at him. 

“Be my guest,” the Doctor said, more than happy to show off the Tardis.

Jackson took a deep breath and stepped inside, his eyes growing a few sizes as his breath was stolen by the enormity of the Tardis. 

“Oh. Oh my word. Oh. Oh, goodness me. Well. But this is, but this is nonsense,” Jackson shook his head.

“Well, that’s one word for it,” the Doctor shrugged.

“Certainly an odd word,” Ariel remarked with a small frown.

“Complete and utter, wonderful nonsense,” Jackson chuckled. “How very, very silly. Oh, no. I can't bear it. Oh, it's causing my head to ache. No. No, no, no, no, no, no,” he sighed.

Jackson stepped outside and the Doctor smirked as he closed the door and the pair leant on the doorframe to talk to Jackson.

“Oh! Oh, gracious,” Jackson sighed. “That's quite enough. I take it this is goodbye,” he nodded.

“Onwards and upwards,” the Doctor smiled.

“Tell me one thing. All those facts and figures I saw of the Doctor's life, you were never alone. All those bright and shining companions. But not any more? The pair of you have no one?” Jackson prompted.

“Just each other,” Ariel nodded.

Jackson frowned and took a deep breath as he thought. “Might I ask why that is the case?”

“They leave. Because they should. Or they find someone else. And some of them, some of them forget me. I suppose in the end, they break my heart,” the Doctor sighed with a small shrug.

“A life in the Tardis isn’t a life without recompense,” Ariel said simply.

Jackson nodded, thinking about how much the pair would benefit from a Christmas feast before venturing back into their solemn lives. “That offer of Christmas dinner. It's no longer a request, it's a demand. In memory of those we've lost.”

The Doctor heaved a deep sigh. “Oh, go on then.”

“Really?” Jackson frowned, surprised that he had actually said yes.

“Just this once,” the Doctor nodded. “You've actually gone and changed my mind. Not many people can do that. Jackson, if anyone had to be the Doctor, I'm glad it was you,” he smiled.

“The feast awaits,” Jackson beamed. “Come with me. Walk this way.”

“I certainly will,” the Doctor grinned. “Merry Christmas to you, Jackson.”

“Merry Christmas indeed, Doctor,” Jackson smiled, walking out from under the archway.

Ariel turned and spotted the Doctor trying to go back into the Tardis and her eyes widened. “Oh, no you don’t!” Ariel exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. “Just this once, Doctor, I’m gonna force you into doing something you don’t want to. We’re gonna have a proper Christmas feast,” she nodded. “If you don’t want to do it for you, then do it for me,” Ariel insisted.

The Doctor sighed softly and nodded. “Alright, just this once,” he mumbled. He wrapped his arm around Ariel and pressed a kiss to her head. “What would I do without you?”

“Well, I think we’d both be pretty lonely wouldn’t we?” Ariel prompted.

The Doctor smirked. “Not a doubt in my mind.”

 


	40. Going Too Far

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty short, but the Master is up next! Plus, I included a quick moment with one of my faves just so it wasn't completely dull.

“I just think that if you spend time with your children at night, Victoria, for example, before you go to sleep or right after you wake up they may grow adjusted to you. I had a cousin who was just a baby when I was fifteen and when I held her in my arms she cried nonstop, but the more time I spent with her, the less she cried,” Ariel advised, walking through Buckingham Palace with the Queen just three years older than her.

“That may be a good idea. Albert is always so good with them but I’ve found myself comparing them to frogs,” Victoria chuckled.

“Oh, I’ll bet Albert was delighted to hear that,” Ariel giggled.

“He often talks of having more children but I find myself weary at the prospect,” Victoria sighed.

“Pregnancy is tiring,though my mother once told me that taking a quick nap after lunch when you’re pregnant is a lifesaver,” Ariel advised.

“Ah, you are a blessing Miss Parsons!” Victoria exclaimed joyfully.

Ariel laughed. If she had told her younger self that Queen Victoria would call her a blessing, she would’ve thought she went mad.

Just then, she heard a faint wheezing and Ariel took a deep breath. “I hate to say but my ride is here. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can,” Ariel nodded.

“Until then,” Victoria smiled. “I may leave Vicky in your care for a bit if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, it would be my pleasure. We might be able to get her away from the same few nursemaids all the time,” Ariel nodded.

“Goodbye, my friend,” Victoria smiled.

“Goodbye, Victoria,” Ariel grinned. She ran through the palace where the Tardis was wheezing into existence. She ran through the doors and smiled at the sight of the Doctor in a powdered wig. “Somebody dressed up,” she giggled.

“What?” The Doctor frowned and peered up at his forehead. “Oh, I thought he took that off!” The Doctor snapped, pulling the wig off and tossing it to the ground.

“I think it looks good,” Ariel remarked. “Not as good as the army uniform though,” she chuckled.

The Doctor smirked and pulled the lever of the Tardis to send them into space.

Ever since Christmas, they had travelled a lot, occasionally together and occasionally apart, though when they were apart they only left each other for a few hours. They tried once to stay apart for a night and the Doctor left Ariel in Buckingham Palace for a whole day, but they both grew antsy and the Doctor nearly risked being seen by Queen Victoria just to reunite with Ariel.

Their presences just kept the other sane when travelling throughout the universe. Without each other they just felt empty and weak.

Throughout the past month, they had talked to some of the most famous historical figures in the world.

The Doctor seemed to be extremely close friends with most of them and with those he didn’t have a nice friendship with, they hated his very existence which was always entertaining to Ariel to find out which historical figure hated the Doctor.

Though their fun trips were never without risk. Ariel had to face the Weeping Angels with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and had to phone the Doctor multiple times to figure out what they even were and how they were beaten. The Doctor stopped the Slitheen from invading the American Revolution and they both saved the Renaissance from the Zygons.

Ariel sighed softly and stood up, walking to the Doctor’s sighed as he grinned and flew the Tardis. She hated that it would have to end for even a second let alone a few days, but she also knew she had to drop by her house. She had no other choice.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed. “I have to ask you something.”

“Huh?” The Doctor said, raising an eyebrow but never looking back at her.

“I have to go home for a bit to get my stuff and organize a funeral for my Mum. My family’s gonna wanna know what happened since I doubt they recovered bodies from the Crucible,” Ariel said.

The Doctor’s face fell and while he didn’t look at her, she could read his disappointment.

“I’m sorry. It’ll only be for two or three days,” Ariel sighed.

“Right,” the Doctor nodded, trying not to show how upset he was and failing miserably. He frowned for a few moments lost in thought before his eyes widened and he inhaled sharply. “But if I come with you to the funeral-,” he began.

Ariel giggled and sighed softly, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I have to do this on my own.”

“Of course,” the Doctor mumbled, his face falling again as he walked away from the console and plopped down on the jumpseat.

“It’s alright,” Ariel insisted with a smile. “It’ll only be two or three days.”

“I don’t wanna travel on my own for that long,” the Doctor muttered, finally meeting Ariel’s eyes with a strange look in them.

Ariel smiled softly. “I’m sorry, Doctor, but I have to go. I know I never talk about the rest of my family but my Mum had a brother. He at least deserves a chance to mourn her.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded. He squeezed Ariel’s hands quickly and didn’t say a word as he walked back up to the console to set the coordinates.

“You wanna go three days after the Daleks?” The Doctor asked, his voice absent of any emotion.

“Just about,” Ariel mumbled with nod.

The Doctor nodded and tried not to let her see just how much his hearts were aching at the thought of her absence. Ever since he had left Rose behind for good, she had been a constant comfort, always by his side and reassuring him that he was wonderful and making him feel as though he wasn’t completely awful. Everytime she was gone for too long, he doubted himself. His mind plagued war on itself every time she was gone. He needed her presence to reassure him that he wasn’t the killer he thought himself to be. 

He just needed her.

Ariel needed him just as much. Whenever he was gone, she would allow herself to wander into her own mind and gave her thoughts too much life. Thoughts that ridiculed her as selfish or disrespectful. Thoughts that told her she was nothing more than a girl who killed her father, striving for the appreciation of people that thought of her as a monster. Without him, she never felt the comfort of someone loving her in spite of her past. She would always allow herself to wonder, what would they think if they knew the truth? She needed him to reassure her that none of that mattered.

The Doctor landed with an ominous thud and Ariel let out a shaky breath.

She suddenly wanted to take back all that she had told him. She wanted him to fly the Tardis away to anywhere and everywhere and allow herself to forget the duties she had to her family.

Ariel took a deep breath and walked up to him. She placed her hand on his and he sighed softly. She cupped his cheek and turned him to face her. 

He looked down at her with sad eyes. He never cried over such small things, he had gone through much to waste tears over her leaving him for a few days, but she knew he felt twice the pain in his hearts when he didn’t shed a tear.

“Don’t go,” the Doctor said, shaking his head. It wasn’t a request.

Ariel smiled softly and pulled down his lips to meet hers. It was meant to be a gentle goodbye kiss, but it quickly fell into something more as the pair became enwrapped in each other, backing all the way to the Doctor’s bedroom with the door slamming shut loudly behind them.

~~~

An hour later, Ariel finally sat up to the displeasure of the Doctor. “I have to go,” Ariel insisted.

“Promise you’ll call,” the Doctor requested, refusing to let go of her hand until she agreed.

Ariel giggled and leant back, kissing him sweetly. “Every day,” she nodded.

The Doctor smiled and allowed her to get dressed. Before she left, she walked around to his side of the bed and kissed him once more. “Love you,” Ariel said.

“Love you too,” the Doctor smiled.

Ariel left the Tardis without another word. As she walked out and up to her doorstep, she took one last look at the Tardis.

Just three days. What could go wrong in three days?

As the Doctor laid in his bed he stared at the closed door with a heavy sigh. He probably should keep from travelling much for the next three days.

Almost as soon as he thought that, his mind immediately tossed away the idea. How bad could it really get in three days? He might see if he could find Easter on the Tardis or maybe even go to Mars.

There was no harm in that.

Ariel trudged into the house and opened the door, beginning to feel the vast emptiness of the house when like a blessing, a large golden retriever bound up to her happily.

“Rufus!” Ariel exclaimed, kneeling down and petting the dog in relief. “Have you started to feel lonely too?” She frowned. “Let’s get you fed and then I’ll see if I can’t pack up your stuff. I should probably tell the Doctor that a real dog is gonna be moving in with us, not some tin one that has laser,” she muttered.

Rufus simply pouted at her feet. 

“Yes, I know,” Ariel chuckled. “You need food. Why am I not surprised that’s the only thing you want of me,” she laughed.

Ariel went to the cupboards and filled up his food and water bowl before sighing and walking through the house forlornly. She would have to give it up then. It wasn’t much and it certainly wasn’t the place she had grown up in, but it was home.

She noticed a calendar on the wall and her eyes widened. She ran up to it and did something she had not done for months. She checked the date.

Ariel knew it would only be updated to the day of the attack, so the past month and a half she had spent travelling with the Doctor would not be marked, but it was worth it to see what she had really missed after travelling with him.

She had started travelling with the Doctor in early October and her eyes widened when she saw the attack was all the way in mid-March.

She had not only missed Christmas, she missed the New Year and another very important day.

“I’m nineteen,” Ariel breathed. “I missed my birthday.”

Ariel had been born on April fifth and if she went by her timeline with the Doctor, she had spent her nineteenth birthday saving Queen Victoria and her husband from Weeping Angels. She wanted to almost laugh at the thought.

“I’m nineteen,” Ariel gasped, the reality of it not really setting it. “I’m nineteen,” she grinned, spinning around to share the news to an empty house.

Ariel sighed and her smile fell. It was going to be a long three days.

 

**Day One**

“You’re travelling already?” Ariel frowned, pulling her boots off and resting her phone between her cheek and shoulder as Rufus jumped up onto the bed with her.

“Yeah, I figured why not, you know?” The Doctor shrugged. “I suppose I had to, to keep from losing in it that box.”

“Doctor, it’s infinite,” Ariel chuckled. “Never mind, I actually have a favor to ask,” she said.

“What’s that?” The Doctor asked as he stepped onto a bus with a chocolate egg in his hands. He found Easter eventually but he’d had to go to an Easter in the past to keep from interfering in Ariel’s timeline. He landed before he knew her.

Originally, he had been afraid of seeming extremely weird and popping by her house before she even knew who he was, but eventually he decided it was worth it. Rather, than finding her at her house spending Easter with her family, he found her in the library reading. It had seemed she’d rather be in the world of stories on the holiday rather than reality. 

The Doctor had smiled wistfully at the thought and let her be. He only stopped to pick up some chocolate before deciding to take a bus throughout the city and call it a day.

“I wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind me bringing my dog Rufus onto the Tardis. I’m sure she has a place he can stay. I just know that if he doesn’t come with me I’ll have to give him to my horrible cousins and that’s just way too much to put him through. You know I wouldn’t dare put him up for adoption either,” Ariel grinned, holding out her hand for Rufus to shake. “Say hi, Rufus,” Ariel said and hold out the phone for him.

Rufus barked happily into the phone and the Doctor chuckled.

“I think the Tardis has a garden room that he can run around in,” the Doctor nodded. “Shouldn’t be a problem,” he shrugged.

“Great,” Ariel grinned. “Just do me a favor and don’t get into trouble while traveling,” she requested.

“It’s Easter,” the Doctor sighed. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Doctor, you say that about everything,” Ariel smiled. 

“Oh, come on,” the Doctor moaned. “Let me have this one. I never find Easter.”

“Okay,” Ariel smirked. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Love you,” the Doctor grinned.

“Love you too.”

Ariel sighed as she hung up the phone and picked up Rufus. “You’ve got a new home, love,” she smiled.

Rufus barked happily and she giggled. “I’m pretty happy about it too,” Ariel said.

She took a deep breath and set her dog back on the ground, grabbing her phone off her bed and heading to the kitchen to fix Rufus’s food. 

She had a long day ahead of her. She had to register her mother’s death and drop by her uncle’s house in Manchester and give him the information. She also expected having to gather a few witnesses seeing as her mother’s death wasn’t exactly traditional.

Ariel prepared Rufus’s food and said goodbye to him before heading out and grabbing her bike. She smirked down at the small bike. She had given up her car after the crash with Ross. 

After two major incidents in her life with cars, she didn’t exactly enjoy using them to get around anymore.

She sighed softly as she climbed on the bike and started her day. It was certainly going to be exhausting.

 

**Day Two**

“So, you not only got into a bus that went to an alien planet and you had to save, but you have some crazed fan in Unit?” Ariel giggled. “Do you know what it means not to get into trouble?”

“It wasn’t my fault!” The Doctor insisted. “How was I supposed to know the bus was in danger?”

“Stuff just happens when you’re around,” Ariel shrugged. “I don’t think it needs any explanation.”

“This doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep trying,” the Doctor smiled. “I’m still going to Mars.”

“You have a serious obsession with Mars,” Ariel remarked with a chuckle.

“I could say the same about you and Queen Victoria,” the Doctor retorted.

“Alright point taken,” Ariel nodded with a grin. “This time, just try not to get into trouble,” she sighed.

“I’ll do my best,” the Doctor lied.

Ariel rolled her eyes and said goodbye to him. As soon as she hung up the phone, it rang once again. 

Ariel frowned at the caller ID:  _ Bowtie _ . 

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

She hesitantly answered the phone. “Hello?” She said.

“Ah, Ariel, we need to get going. I’ve got Marilyn Monroe on hold and a trip to Venice waiting, where have you run off to?” The accent that came through the phone speaker was similar to her Doctor’s but also a bit more similar to her own. The man on the other line sound much younger and far more excitable as he spoke.

“Sorry, who is this?” Ariel prompted.

There was a pause on the other line. “How old are you?” The voice asked, less ecstatic and a bit concerned as he spoke.

“Just turned nineteen,” Ariel frowned. “Why?”

“Oh, damn, got the line wrong again!” He exclaimed. “No, don’t laugh Amy, I will get this right. I’m sorry, love, forget this call ever happened,” he said before hanging up.

Ariel frowned at the phone with wide eyes. “Alright then,” she muttered. 

She tossed the phone on the bed with a sigh and headed up to her closet. Tomorrow was her last day at that house and she had to make sure everything was packed for when the Doctor picked her up. Tomorrow was also the day of her mother’s funeral.

She hadn’t been coping well having nobody but her family around. Her uncle had insulted her when she said her mother was dead and called her a liar.

He said that she was just making up silly stories to cover up the fact that her mother probably eloped and left her behind. 

He didn’t even believe her when she showed him the death certificate.

It was maddening.

Ariel arranged a funeral, but seeing as her uncle was her mother’s only other living relative, it was only with Carol’s friends.

She had barely slept the past two days. Every time she tried to close her eyes for a while, she woke up screaming. She concealed it well for the Doctor, but she knew she was desperate to get back to him.

He stopped the nightmares.

 

**Day Three**

Ariel trudged through the grass of the graveyard, desperate to get back home and call the Doctor.

While funerals aren’t easy, her mother’s was particularly rough considering she knew nobody there and had to comfort herself as she watched the empty casket be lowered into the ground.

Ariel took a shaky breath and rubbed her arms as a cool breeze passed through. She would have to walk home alone again.

It was so easy to think you would be okay for three simple days on your own until you actually had to face it. The only good points in her days had been calling the Doctor. The rest of her days were spent with family that despised her, people she didn’t know, or completely alone.

She stepped out onto the pavement and heard a faint wheezing across the street. She inhaled sharply and glanced around making nobody could watch her as she bolted across the street just in time to see the Tardis appear.

Ariel wondered momentarily if she was in a dream as the bright blue box shined before her.

She had spent nights awake when she couldn’t sleep wishing that she could just leave with him. That she could just call him early and forget all that she was leaving behind forever.

She doubted she would miss it anyway.

The door creaked and the Doctor stood before her his face numb and appearing as though it had aged at least a hundred years since she last saw him.

“I went too far,” the Doctor breathed.

Ariel smiled sadly at him and wrapped him in a tight hug. He seemed to need the comfort just as much as she did because he hugged her back even tightly and Ariel heard his shaky breaths echoing in her ear.

Whatever he had done with her gone, it wasn’t good.

They both made a silent oath in that moment to each other that they wouldn’t be away for over a day again. 

It was just too hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to include this chapter just to prove how they can both be impacted by the loss of each other. If you didn't get this the Time Lord Victorious happened when Ariel wasn't there to stop him and Ariel was basically half dead by the time he got back to her.


	41. The Laughing Man

Ariel rolled around in her bed, sweat soaking her entire body as her mind was scattered across the place, unable to focus on one exact dream.

All of a sudden, there was a face shrouded in green lighting. A face she didn’t recognize of a man she didn’t know.

The man was laughing. He never stopped laughing. It was horrible. It was like he was laughing at the pain she experienced with his presence in her mind.

She clenched and unclenched her fists at the sight of him. It felt like his very image was forcing her mind to become something she didn’t want to ever have to face.

An awful twisting in her stomach occurred with his presence, a terrible foreboding like something bad was going to happen when he entered her life. 

This man was going to awaken a piece of her she had locked away long ago and promised to never become while standing by the Doctor.

Ariel woke up with a gasp, her entire shirt drenched with sweat as she took deep breaths and glanced around the room, ensuring herself that for the moment: she was safe.

**Two Weeks Later**

Ariel and the Doctor walked out of the Tardis laughing, both wearing leis as Ariel drank out of a coconut and clung to the Doctor’s arm as they trudged through the snow of the Ood Sphere.

Right by the Tardis, Ood Sigma was was waiting for them patiently.

“Ah!” The Doctor exclaimed at the sight of the Ood. “Now, sorry. There you are. So, where were we? I was summoned, wasn't I? An Ood in the snow, calling to me. Well, I didn't exactly come straight here. Had a bit of fun, you know,” he shrugged. “Travelled about, did this and that. Got into trouble. You know us,” he chuckled. “It was brilliant. I saw the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt, saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, named a galaxy Alison,” he grinned.

“I invented pancakes and met Monet. Bit pretentious,” Ariel shrugged. “ _ Really  _ French,” she said and the Doctor laughed and nodded. “Also, we finally saw the Fifteenth Broken Moon of the Medusa Cascade!” Ariel exclaimed. “Ah, it was gorgeous, though somebody still has to take me to meet Van Gogh,” she smirked.

“I’ll get to it!” The Doctor laughed. “Ah! And we also met Good Queen Bess,” the Doctor nodded.

“Lovely woman,” Ariel sighed.

“Anyway, what do you want?” The Doctor asked.

“You should not have delayed,” Ood Sigma said.

“Well, what do you expect?” Ariel frowned. “Based on what you told him last time you saw him I don’t think anybody would be in a hurry to get back to that.”

“She’s right,” the Doctor said. “The last time I was here you said my song would be ending soon, and I'm in no hurry for that.”

“You will come with me,” Ood Sigma said, walking them through the snow.

“Hold on,” the Doctor said, holding up a hand to stop Ood Sigma. “Better lock the Tardis.”

The Doctor pulled a remote key out of his coat and locked the Tardis like a car, making Ariel laugh and Ood Sigma just stare at them.

“See? Like a car. I locked it like a car. Like. It's funny. No? Little bit? Blimey, try to make an Ood laugh,” the Doctor sighed and Ariel snickered. “So how old are you now, Ood Sigma? Ah,” he smiled as he turned to the Ood city.

“Oh, that’s gorgeous!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Magnificent,” the Doctor nodded in agreement. “You've achieved all this in how long?” He wondered.

“One hundred years,” Ood Sigma said.

The Doctor’s smile fell. “Then we've got a problem. Because all of this is way too fast. Not just the city, I mean your ability to call me. Reaching all the way back to the twenty first century. Something's accelerating your species way beyond normal,” he muttered.

“And the Mind of the Ood is troubled,” Ood Sigma.

“Why, what’s happened?” The Doctor asked.

“What’s wrong?”  Ariel frowned.

“Every night, Doctor and Ariel, every night we have bad dreams,” Ood Sigma said.

Ariel’s eyes widened as she thought of the bad dreams she had been having of the laughing man. Could the Ood be experiencing the same ones?

She had never told the Doctor about the dreams because of the feelings they brought along with them. She didn’t want to tell the Doctor that what she feared most might just happen. She might kill somebody.

Ood Sigma lead the pair into the Ood council that took place in an ice cave where they Ood all sat in a circle with just enough room for Ariel and the Doctor.

Ariel glanced warily at the Doctor and he nodded, silently telling her that it was alright and that they should sit with the Ood.

Ariel sighed softly and nodded, sitting beside the Doctor and another Ood.

“Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning through the dark and the fire and the blood. Always returning, returning to this world. It is returning, and he is returning, and they are returning, but too late. Too late. Far too late. He has come,” an Ood at the front of the circle in white robes said.

“Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming,” Ood Sigma instructed the pair.

“So,” the Doctor said awkwardly, noticing as all the Ood had joined hands. “Right,” he nodded. “Hallo,” he smiled.

“You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join,” the Ood chanted.

Ariel took the hand of the Ood by her side and turned to the Doctor with a small shrug, holding out her hand. The Doctor nodded and grabbed the hand of the Ood by his side as well.

The second they had all joined hands, they were pulled back into the memories of the Ood and Ariel saw the laughing face again.

Ariel gasped. “No, no, no, I can’t see that face again,” she shook her head.

“You have seen him before. Many times in your dreams just as the Ood have,” the Elder said. “I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now.”

“You’ve been dreaming of the Master?” The Doctor frowned.

“I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know that was the Master,” Ariel shook her head. “I was scared,” Ariel said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Just as I said, Doctor,” Ariel told him, clenching her jaw but hold her fear in her eyes. “I was terrified.” She wasn’t going to listen to him yell at her when that man, the Master, had been haunting her nightmares and she had spent each night terrified of what may happen.

The Doctor watched her with wide eyes and sighed softly, realized her shouldn’t be mad at her when she was afraid. He turned back to the Ood. “That man is dead,” he muttered.

“There is yet more,” the Elder announced. “Join us. Events are taking shape. So many years ago, and yet changing the now. There is a man so scared,” he said.

There was a quick flash of the Master once more before another man took his place. Wilf.

“Oh, my God,”  Ariel breathed.

“Wilfred,” the Doctor gasped. “Is he alright? What about Donna, is she safe?”

“You should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth. Even now, the king is in his Counting house,” the Elder said.

They got a flash of a man with dark-skin and what Ariel assumed was his daughter in formal attire in what looked like a mansion.

“I don’t know who they are,” the Doctor frowned.

“Neither do I,” Ariel shook her head.

“And there is another. The most lonely of all, lost and forgotten,” the Elder told them.

A flash of a blonde woman in a cage was shown in their minds.

“Who is that?” Ariel frowned, turning to the Doctor with a raised eyebrow.

“The Master’s wife,” the Doctor breathed.

“The woman who killed him,” Ariel nodded in understanding.

“We see so much, but understand little,” Ood Sigma said. “The woman in the cage, who is she?” He asked, unsure of what ‘The Master’s wife’ meant.

“She was,” the Doctor frowned, unsure of how she could explain it to them. “It wasn't her fault, she was. The Master, he's a Time Lord, like me. I can show you,” he nodded. He grabbed their hands tightly and showed them his memories.

Ariel saw the events the Doctor had told her about with actually faces to the unknown names. The Master taking the name Harold Saxon, becoming Prime Minister and marrying Lucy Saxon the blonde woman now imprisoned.  The Doctor narrated the events as they watched his memories.

“The Master took the name of Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her,” the Doctor explained. “She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth. I reversed everything he'd done so it never even happened, but Lucy Saxon remembered. I held him in my arms. I burnt his body. The Master is dead,” he said.

“And yet, you did not see,” the Elder hummed.

The Elder closed on in a certain piece of the Doctor’s memory. From within in the burning pyre where the Master’s body laid, a small item dropped to the ground.

The Elder closed in on the memory once again as it progressed and showed a blonde woman picking up the Master’s signet ring.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he inhaled sharply, yanking his arms out of their grasp and jumping up.

“Part of him survived,” the Doctor gasped. “We have to go!” He exclaimed, grabbing Ariel’s hand and started to run out of the cave.

“But something more is happening, Doctor and Ariel,” the Elder said. “The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. The Ood have gained this power to see through time, because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past,” he told them.

“What do you mean?” The Doctor frowned.

The Ood all leant forward and when they looked up, their eyes were as bright red.

“Oh, my God!” Ariel exclaimed, jumping back with wide eyes.

“This is what we have seen, Doctor and Ariel. The darkness heralds only one thing,” the Elder said.

“The end of time itself,” the Ood chorused.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look of sheer horror. The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and bolted back to the Tardis.

He unlocked it from a distance and they raced back inside.

“Doctor, what’s going to happen?” Ariel breathed. “If the Master comes back, what will actually happen?”

“Considering the way he came to Earth last time, it may be nothing good, but never mind that. We’ll need him,” the Doctor said.

“What do you mean? I know you said he was your friend on Gallifrey but do you think you can still trust him?” Ariel asked.

“I have to hope I can. You heard the Ood. Something else is coming, and you remember what I told about the prophecy,” the Doctor said.

“He will knock four times,” Ariel nodded. “But that could be the Master. The drums in his head?”

“I don’t know,” the Doctor sighed, shaking his head. “But I have to find out.”

“So, where are we going?” Ariel asked.

“Broadfell Prison. I have to warn Lucy. If the Ood saw her then that means she’s involved in this somehow. We have to tell her,” the Doctor insisted.

Ariel nodded. “Of course, but Doctor if this really is it-,” she began.

“Let’s not think about that right now!” The Doctor exclaimed. “We have to save them, we can worry about the rest later.”

“There will be no later if this is your last trip with this face!” Ariel snapped.

“It’s fine,” the Doctor sighed. “We have bigger things to think about,” he said.

Ariel clenched her jaw and slammed the lever down, stalling the Tardis in motion.

“Ariel!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Doctor, I don’t want to lose you,” Ariel muttered.

“You won’t lose me,” the Doctor promised. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. “Even if it does happen, I’ll still be here. I’ll still love you.”

“I guess I’m just scared,” Ariel admitted.

“I am too,” the Doctor nodded. He wrapped Ariel in another tight hug and kissed her quickly before turning back to the Tardis and setting it in motion.

Ariel smiled softly at him and tried to fight back the pain of watching him at that moment. It would be so strange to see another man in his place with an entirely different personality bouncing around the Tardis as her Doctor had done and try and identify them as the same man.

The Tardis landed near Broadfell Prison and the Doctor held out his hand to Ariel.

“Together?” The Doctor prompted.

Ariel grinned and took his hand and they ran out to see nothing more than the ruined shell of Broadfell Prison.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he sighed softly. “He’s here,” the Doctor murmured.

“Where would he go?” Ariel asked.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor sighed. “But I can find out,” he nodded. “Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand and running back inside the Tardis.

~~~

They landed in the derelict site and the Doctor stepped out and sniffed deeply. “He’s here,” the Doctor nodded and waved Ariele out of the Tardis.

“Time Lords are so fucking weird,” Ariel mumbled. 

“Oi, language!” The Doctor reprimanded.

“Says the man who once cursed when I was taking care of Prince Alfred as a baby,” Ariel reminded him.

“Oh, don’t remind me,” the Doctor sighed. He smiled softly at her and inhaled deeply once again.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of a loud metal banging across the site. The Doctor and Ariel shared a wide eyed gaze. The banging went through four beats and a rest repeating constantly.

It only stopped permanently when the Doctor and Ariel started running toward the noise.

They spotted the Master against the skyline, hopping up on a pile of girders. He had dirty blonde hair and a tattered hoodie, he appeared as anyone would expect from a man who had just been brought back from the dead

He glanced at them and smirked, but was momentarily fazed by the sight of the Doctor and Ariel holding hands, but he quickly fell into maddening laughter and screamed loudly, his shouts echoing across the derelict site. 

The Master had no idea the Doctor had taken to getting into another relationship with a silly little human. It was hilarious to watch him try and make something genuine out of such a short lifespan.

The Doctor and Ariel stepped back with wide eyes as the Master carried on laughing and his skeleton flashed before them making Ariel just back in surprise.

“Please, let me help. You're burning up your own life force,” the Doctor insisted.

The Master just laughed and shook his head, running away without saying a word to them. He would never accept the Doctor’s help, especially if that help included silly little Earth girls.

Ariel and the Doctor each took deep breaths before running after him once again and trying to stop him.

However, they lost track of him when out of nowhere Wilf walked up to them with a grin leading a group of old people behind them.

“Oh, my gosh, Doctor, Miss Ariel. You two sure are a sight for sore eyes,” Wilf smiled delightfully.

“Excuse us!” Ariel exclaimed, trying to peer past the group to see the Master.

“Out of our way!” The Doctor snapped.

“Doctor!” Ariel cried, smacking him on the arm.

“Oh, I see she’s still trying to keep you in check, sir,” Wilf chuckled.

“Sorry, Wilf, but we’re really in a hurry-,” Ariel began.

“Did we do it? Is that them?” One of the elderly men beside Wilf asked.

“Tall and thin, big brown coat,” another man nodded at the Doctor. “Small, brown hair, wearing a skirt or dress,” he said, that’s them.

“Oi, I’m not that small,” Ariel frowned. “I’m 5’7,” she mumbled bitterly. 

“The Silver Cloak,” an older woman smiled. “It worked. Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbour heard these two saying they were heading east,” she said.

The Doctor frowned at the group while Ariel giggled happily, highly amused by all of them.

“Wilfred?” The Doctor prompted.

“Yeah?” Wilf said.

“Have you told them who I am?” The Doctor whispered. “You promised me.”

“No, I just said you were a doctor, that's all,” Wilf shrugged. “And might I say, sir, it is an honour to see you again,” he saluted the Doctor and the Doctor looked away with a sigh.

“Oh, but you never said he was a looker. He's gorgeous,” the older woman remarked with a grin. “Take a photo,” she insisted and Ariel started laughing.

“Not bad, eh?” One of the men smirked. “Me next,” he nodded as he got ready to take the photo.

“I think I’m gonna stick out of this one if you lot don’t mind,” Ariel giggled. She highly enjoyed watching the Doctor grow overwhelmed by all the elderly.

The Doctor looked over at her with wide eyes and she laughed.

“I'm Minnie,” the older woman introduced. “Minnie the Menace. It's a long time since I had a photo with a handsome man.”

“Ah, he is quite the looker, Minnie,” Ariel grinned.

“Just get off him. Leave him alone, will you?” Wilf groaned, trying to pull Minnie off the Doctor. 

“Hold on. Did it flash?” The elderly man taking the picture frowned at the camera.

“No, there's a blue light,” Minnie shook her head. “Try again.”

“I’m all fingers and thumbs,” the old man sighed.

“We’re really kind of busy, you know,” the Doctor sighed, glancing over at Ariel with wide eyes.

Ariel just grinned and waved happily at him. She was more than happy to watch as the Doctor was at a loss for words. Something that rarely happened, if never.

“Oh, it won’t take a tick,” Minnie assured him. “Keep smiling,” she grinned.

Slowly, Minnie’s hand began to wander and gave the Doctor’s bottom a firm squeeze.

“Is that your  _ hand _ , Minnie?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

Ariel burst out laughing.

“Good boy,” Minnie smirked, patting his bottom gently.

“Okay,” Ariel sighed. “I think that’s enough, we’ve really gotta be on our way,” she insisted, deciding Minnie had gone just a bit too far with the ‘good boy’.

The Doctor sighed in relief as Ariel grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Minnie.

“Oh, wait, you two!” Wilf called. They both turned to him and he smiled. “I was thinking maybe the three of us could pop off and get a bite to eat,” he suggested with a shrug.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look.

“We’re fairly busy Wilf, I don’t-,” the Doctor began.

“Oh, it won’t take too much time. Just a quick chance to remember the good ‘ol days, eh?” Wilf smirked.

Ariel looked up with wide, adorable eyes. She shrugged slightly and the Doctor sighed.

“Alright,” the Doctor nodded.

~~~

After passing several cafes and having the Doctor and Ariel recommend each and every one of them, Wilf finally decided on one and headed off the minibus with the couple.

“Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up. Bye. You behave, bye,” Wilf said, waving goodbye to all his friends.

Ariel frowned at the cafe. “What’s so special about this cafe?” She asked.

“Yeah, we passed fifteen cafes along the way,” the Doctor nodded.

“All of which we showed you,” Ariel said.

“Yeah,” Wilf nodded, completely ignoring the pair of them. “Afternoon,” he waved to a customer leaving the cafe.

The Doctor and Ariel shared a look but Ariel simply shrugged and headed in after Wilf. The Doctor peered behind him and sighed softly, wanting to go look for the Master, rather than drink some coffee with Wilf.

“Doctor, come on,” Ariel giggled. “He had the face of the former Prime Minister, he’s not gonna be able to just walk around town right away,” she sighed.

The Doctor smiled softly and walked up to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her head softly. “You’re right,” the Doctor mumbled. “Come on,” he nodded.

They headed inside and sat across the table from Wilf. Ariel rested her head on the Doctor’s shoulder and holding his hand as she smiled kindly at Wilf.

“So, I see you two are still going strong, eh?” Wilf chuckled.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a grin.

“Ah, Donna was always going on about the pair of you. She used to tell me how it was sweet to watch but also sickeningly adorable,” Wilf smiled. “She always used to say it made her want to get into a relationship.”

“Yeah,” Ariel grinned. “We had some good times with her,” Ariel nodded.

“Oh, we had some good times too, didn't we?” Wilf smirked. “I mean, all those ATMOS things, and planets in the sky, and me with that paint gun,” he joked, mimicking a paint gun. While Ariel smiled, the Doctor seemed less amused, narrowing his eyes at Wilf as he spoke. Wilf just sighed softly, noticing his attempt as distraction was failing. “I keep seeing things, Doctor. This face at night.”

“Who are you?” The Doctor frowned. He already knew all about the Master sending dreams to everyone and if he needed to know more he could always ask Ariel. He wanted to know how the man sitting before him had managed to find him in mere hours.

“I’m Wilfred Mott,” Wilf said, sitting up a bit straighter as he said his name.

“No,” the Doctor shook his head. “People have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours.”

“Yeah, how is that possible?” Ariel wondered with a small frown.

“Well, I’m just lucky I suppose,” Wilf shrugged.

“No,” Ariel hummed. “It isn’t just luck, is it?”

“No, we keep on meeting, Wilf,” the Doctor said. “Over and over again like something's still connecting us.”

“What’s so important about me?” Wilf wondered.

“Exactly,” the Doctor nodded. “Why you?” He murmured.

“Doctor, is this really the most important thing right now?” Ariel prompted, she meant to refer to the Master but it seemed there was only one thought circling through the Doctor’s mind.

“I’m going to die,” the Doctor sighed.

“Doctor-,” Ariel tried and the Doctor shook his head.

“No, it’s alright,” the Doctor muttered.

Wilf seemed confused by the distress. “So am I,” Wilf nodded. “One day,” he shrugged.

“Don’t you dare,” the Doctor snapped.

“Alright, I’ll try not to,” Wilf chuckled and Ariel smiled sadly at him.

“But I was told,” the Doctor sighed. “He will knock four times. That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then,” he took a deep breath and met Wilf’s eyes as Ariel grabbed his hand tightly and scooted her chair closer to his so she could stay as close to him as possible when he was talking about his own death. She looked up at Wilf from the Doctor’s shoulder and he seemed wildly confused.

“Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body,” Wilf reminded him with a small frown.

“I can still die,” the Doctor nodded. “If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead,” he sighed and shook his head. “Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead,” he mumbled and looked up at Wilf who had his eyes fixated on the window. “What?”

The Doctor and Ariel both peered out the window to see Donna across the street getting out of her car.

“Is that-?” Ariel gasped.

“I'm sorry, but I had to,” Wilf sighed with a small shrug. “Look, can't you make her better?”

“Stop it,” the Doctor snapped.

“No, but you're so clever,” Wilf insisted. “Can't you bring her memory back? Look, just go to her now. Go on, just run across the street. Go up and say hello,” he nearly pleaded.

“Wilf, just stop it,” Ariel snapped, staring at Donna with teary eyes.

“If she ever remembers us, her mind will burn, and she will die,” the Doctor mumbled.

“There’s no way she can get better,” Ariel mumbled.

Outside, a traffic warden approached Donna and her car and they all watched at Donna turned to glare at the woman.

“Don’t you touch this car!” Donna snapped.

“She’s not changed,” the Doctor laughed with teary eyes. Ariel smiled sadly and tangled her arm around his, resting her head back on his shoulder.

“Nah,” Wilf shook his head. “Oh, there he is,” he said with wide eyes.

A man looking around the same age as Donna with dark skin and short hair approached her and kissed her happily.

“Shaun Temple,” Wilf introduced. “They're engaged. Getting married in the spring.”

“Another wedding,” the Doctor chuckled.

“Yeah,” Wilf smiled.

“Hold on, she's not going to be called Noble-Temple?” The Doctor frowned and Ariel snickered at the very thought. “That sounds like a tourist spot.”

“No,” Wilf shook his head. “It’s Temple-Noble.”

“Still sounds like a tourist spot,” Ariel murmured and the Doctor fought back a laugh as he looked up at Wilf.

“Right,” the Doctor sighed. “Is she happy? Is he nice?” He asked.

“Yeah, it he good for her?” Ariel wondered.

“Yeah, he's sweet enough,” Wilf nodded. “He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why,” he sighed.

“She’s got him,” the Doctor shrugged. He wrapped his arm around Ariel, combing his fingers through her hair as he spoke. Donna would be alright so long as she had somebody by her side. He knew how much Ariel had helped him and knew if Donna was engaged to that man, he should be able to help her when times get rough. After all, Ariel had done the same for him countless times.

“She’s making do,” Wilf sighed.

“Aren’t we all,” Ariel mumbled.

Wilf took a deep breath and nodded. “So, how you two been? Still traveling together each day I see,” he smirked.

“Well, we parted for a couple days,” Ariel shrugged. “We tried to take a break for three days,” she murmured.

“But I did some things,” the Doctor nodded, his breath growing shaky as he spoke. “It went wrong. I need-,” his voice cracked and his head fell on the table, his body shaking as he cried silently.

“Doctor,” Ariel sighed, wrapped her arms around him tightly and resting her head on his back as he sobbed.

“Oh, my word,” Wild said with wide eyes, unsure if he should reach out a hand to comfort the man.

Ariel ran her fingers through the Doctor’s hair and got him to move his arms just enough that she could whisper into his ear rapid words of comfort.

Wilf watched them in concern, unsure if he should help Ariel. He had never meant to upset the Doctor. The man seemed so strong all the time, his tears blindsided him.

The Doctor gave a small nod to Ariel and she took a deep breath, grabbing her coat and standing up as the Doctor got up as well and held her hand as she turned to Wilf.

“Merry Christmas, Wilf,” Ariel smiled.

“Er, is he going to be alright?” Wilf wondered.

“He’s the Doctor,” Ariel sighed, unsure if she could give an explanation further than that. “He’s very brave, but there are times when he can’t be. There are times when any of us will just find a breaking point. Losing her,” she said, nodding to Donna outside. “I think that was it for him. But I promise, in the end, he'll be alright. I'll make sure of it,” she assured him with a small smile.

Wilf smiled at her. “Merry Christmas to the both of you,” he said.

“Merry Christmas,” Ariel nodded.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a quote from Nardole (editing it a bit of course to make it Ariel), because even though the majority of the fandom doesn't like him, I actually really liked him in the two Christmas specials. I just felt like he was a character that was good in a Christmas special but poorly developed in a long term season like season ten. that's just my opinion though, you can love or hate him


	42. The Master Race

The Doctor and Ariel managed to get back to hunting down the Master around nightfall. They quickly found him near an abandoned warehouse, not exactly hiding from them.

The Master noticed them walked toward him and rubbed his hands together with a small smirk.

He shot out electric bolts from his hands right between the couple, just over where their hands were joined, but neither of them flinched or looked back as the Master blew up items behind them.

Neither of them was afraid, they both knew they the other would protect them if something went wrong or could possibly kill them.

They were safe.

The Master didn’t even seem to try to kill them, rather he just wanted to push them back for a bit.

He fired bolts of energy at the pair of them equally in their stomachs so they wouldn’t be able to protect the other and they both staggered forward, continuing toward him regardless.

The Master sighed softly and stopped the energy. He ran up to the couple and smirked at Ariel. While she was nothing more than a silly Earth girl, he had to admit she had a fight in her and there was a draining in her eyes that was the tell tale sign of a killer. Perhaps, she was far more interesting than he had originally assumed.

The Master caught them both as they fell to their knees. He stared at them both as they looked at him like he may be redeemable after doing that. He scoffed, rolled his eyes and let them both drop to the ground.

The Doctor lifted his head off the ground and coughed against the dirt before immediately turning to Ariel and helping her to her knees, brushing some of the dirt off of her face and raising an eyebrow at her, silently asking if she was okay. She coughed, a sight burning in her stomach, but nodded. The Master had made sure the energy wasn’t enough to kill them, but they didn’t know that.

“I had estates,” the Master sighed. “Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky. Look at us now,” he muttered.

“All that eloquence,” the Doctor muttered. “But how many people have you killed?” He wondered.

The Master looked at him with wide eyes as though he wasn’t the one to blame for the bodies in his wake. “I am so hungry,” the Master said.

“Your resurrection went wrong,” the Doctor told him. “That energy. Your body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself.”

“You act as though you need to kill people to try and regain the energy you lost,” Ariel sighed.

“No, you’re right,” the Master mumbled. “That human Christmas out there. They eat so much. All that roasting meat, cakes and red wine. Hot, fat, blood, food. Pots, plates of meat, and flesh, and grease, and juice, and baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot. It's so hot.”

Ariel winced and looked away and the Doctor noticed her becoming disturbed by the Master’s words.

“Stop it,” the Doctor murmured.

“Sliced. Sliced. Sliced,” the Master smirked, knowing the effect he was having on Ariel.

“Stop it,” the Doctor snapped.

“It's mine. It's mine. It's mine to eat and eat and eat,” the Master grinned, leaning before Ariel and rambling the words just inches from her face.

“Stop it!” Ariel shouted, glaring at the Master with wide eyes.

The Master was alarmed at first before he smiled. There it was. The fire he had seen a mere shadow of. The rage of a killer. It died as she looked down and the Doctor stood up before the Master, but the Master now knew there was something more in Ariel. All he had to do was unlock it.

“What if I ask you for help?” The Doctor wondered. “There's more at work tonight than the three of us.”

“Oh yeah?” The Master prompted, with a raised eyebrow.

“He got a prophecy,” Ariel said.

“Oh, do tell,” the Master hummed.

“I've been told something is returning,” the Doctor said.

“And here I am,” the Master nodded, holding out his arms as though he thought of himself as a god.

“No, something more,” the Doctor shook his head.

The Master fell to his knees and clutched his head, wincing at the pain of the drumming. “But it hurts,” the Master moaned.

“I was told the end of time,” the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel turned to the Master with wide eyes as she saw whatever was inside his head causing him genuine pain. The Doctor had always told her he thought the drumming was just his madness, but she was beginning to think otherwise as the Master clutched his head.

“It’s causing you pain,” Ariel breathed.

“It hurts,” the Master groaned. “The noise in my head, Doctor. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before. Can't you hear it?” He asked desperately.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor sighed.

“Listen, listen, listen, listen,” the Master hissed as the Doctor knelt back down by his side. “Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is, calling to me. Please listen,” he begged. 

“I can’t hear it,” the Doctor shook his head.

“Neither can I,” Ariel said.

The Master clenched his jaw at the pair in frustration. “Listen,” the Master said.

He pulled Ariel and the Doctor to them, grabbed their hands, and placed his forehead on theirs so their minds were touching enough that he could manage to share the sound with both of them.

The Doctor and Ariel both closed their eyes and they heard what sounded like a metal clanging in the beat of four.

The Doctor and Ariel both jumped up with wide eyes, staring down at the Master.

“What?” The Master frowned, glancing at each of them with a small frown.

“But,” the Doctor breathed.

“Oh, my God,” Ariel gasped.

“What?!” The Master snapped.

“I heard it,” the Doctor murmured.

“I did too,” Ariel nodded.

“But there's no noise,” the Doctor reasoned with a small frown. “There never has been. It's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?”

The Master grinned, laughing to himself madly as he realized he wasn’t insane, that the noise actually existed. “It's real,” the Master laughed. “It's real. It's real!” He exclaimed. He jumped up and used the energy from his hands to shoot himself across the sky.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and chased after him, all the way back to the derelict site where the Master stood on a cliff looking down at the couple and continuing to laugh.

“All these years, you thought I was mad!” The Master cried. “King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor. What is it? What is it? What is it?” He asked desperately

Ariel and the Doctor just stared up at him with wide eyes as he grinned down at the pair.

All of a sudden, a bright spotlight shined bright upon the Master. They all looked up with wide eyes and saw a helicopter flying overhead.

Another spotlight shined down on the Doctor and Ariel as a bunch of men in armor came down some ropes. They injected something into his neck to make him pass out and started carrying him away.

“Don’t!” The Doctor cried.

“Stop!” Ariel screamed.

Other men from their helicopters fired a barrage of bullets in front of the Doctor and Ariel so they couldn’t chase after them.

The Master was hoisted into the helicopter and Ariel and the Doctor watched in horror as he was flown away.

“Tardis?” Ariel breathed, not even glancing at the Doctor, her eyes fixated on the helicopter as it flew away.

“Yep,” the Doctor nodded. He grabbed her hand and started running and Ariel squealed in surprise at suddenly being yanked away. 

They bolted back to the Tardis as quickly as they could.

Ariel slammed the doors behind her and smirked at the Doctor. “Are you think what I’m thinking?” Ariel prompted with a raised eyebrow and small smirk.

The Doctor grinned at her. She was so beautiful. He couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to have her. Just watching her as the faint moonlight shined in through the Tardis window and hit her face just perfectly, he knew that even if he regenerated, he would love her just the same.

“We’re gonna need help?” The Doctor guessed.

“Read my mind,” Ariel smiled, skipping up to the console as the Doctor plugged in the coordinates.

Ariel clung onto the console as it threw them backwards and she beamed up at the time rotors. The sound of the Tardis wheezing was like music to her ears.

They headed out hand in hand and while neither dared to go across the street to Wilf’s house, knowing Donna would be there, they just waited outside the Tardis for Wilf.

Eventually, he saw them through the window and headed out to them.

“What are you two doing here?” Wilf asked.

“We were chasing this bloke. This other Time Lord. He’s at the center of something big that’s about to happen, but we don’t know what yet,” Ariel said.

“We lost him,” the Doctor sighed.

“These people took him. We don’t know who and it was in the dead of the night so we couldn’t follow them,” Ariel shrugged.

“He's still on Earth, I can smell him, but he's too far away,” the Doctor said.

“Alright, but listen, you can't park there,” Wilf said. “What if Donna sees it?” He wondered.

“We need your help, wilf,” Ariel insisted. “We can’t do this on our own.”

“You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of,” the Doctor sighed. “You're involved, if I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?” He asked with a small frown.

“Well, there was a-,” Wilf mumbled.

“Was a what?” Ariel prompted.

“What is it? Tell me,” the Doctor insisted.

“Well, it was,” Wilf frowned. “No, it's nothing,” he shook his head.

“Nothing is ever really nothing,” Ariel said.

“Think-a think-a think. Maybe something out of the blue. Something connected to your life. Something,” the Doctor almost pleaded.

“Well, Donna was a bit strange,” Wilf remembered. “She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book.”

“What book?” The Doctor asked.

“Do you have it?” Ariel hoped.

Wilf nodded and handed the book to her. The Doctor peered over her shoulder and read the cover.

“His name’s Joshua Naismith,” Wilf said about the man on the cover.

“Is that him?” Ariel mumbled with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s him,” the Doctor nodded. “The man the Ood showed us,” the Doctor said.

“So, he’s probably the one that took the Master,” Ariel sighed. “I wonder what they need him for,” she frowned. “Or even how Donna knew about him,” she shrugged.

“Maybe?” The Doctor said with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, I hope so,” Ariel hummed with a smile.

“What?” Wilf frowned.

“It may be touching Donna's subconscious. Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor Donna,” the Doctor grinned.

Before Wilf could respond, Donna’s mother Sylvia marched out of the house and cut them off.

“Dad, what are you up to? You. But,” Sylvia said, freezing when she spotted Ariel and the Doctor. “Get out of here.”

“Why, Merry Christmas to you too ma’am,” Ariel smirked.

“Merry Christmas,” Sylvia sighed. “But she can't see you. What if she remembers?” She wondered.

“Mum, where are those tweezers?” Donna called from a distance within the house.

Ariel inhaled sharply. She didn’t want to see her best friend in pain at the very sight of her.

“Go,” Sylvia breathed.

“We’re going,” the Doctor nodded. He opened the door for Arial and she bolted inside.

“Yeah, me too,” Wilf said, wanting to help the couple all he could.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Sylvia exclaimed.

“Mum? Gramps?” Donna called from within the house.

“Dad, I’m warning you,” Sylvia said.

“Bye, see you later,” Wilf waved.

“Bit old for hide and seek,” Donna sighed in the house.

“Stay right where you are,” Sylvia warned.

“What’s the hold up?”  Ariel frowned, peeking her head out of the Tardis.

“Wilf wants to go with us,” the Doctor sighed.

“Oh no,” Ariel shook her head.

“Yeah, you can’t come with us,” the Doctor said. Ariel and the Doctor both knew the rules, they don’t put anyone at risk unnecessarily.

“You’re not leaving me with her,” Wilf moaned, gesturing to Sylvia with wide eyes.

“Dad!” Sylvia shrieked.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look and Ariel shrugged and headed back into the Tardis.

“Fair point,” the Doctor nodded and opened the door for Wilf.

The Doctor cast a wary look at Sylvia and headed inside the Tardis. He tossed his coat to Ariel and she pulled it on with a grin as the Doctor ran up to the console. Ariel tossed him the book and he used it to track down Naismith.

“Naismith. If I can track him down,” the Doctor mumbled. Ariel walked up to his side and tugged on his sleeve. He turned to her and raised an eyebrow and with a grin, she gestured to Wilf who was staring up at the Tardis with wide eyes. “Ah. Right. Yes. Bigger on the inside. Do you like it?”

“I thought it’d be cleaner?” Wilf remarked with a frown.

“Cleaner?!” The Doctor exclaimed and Ariel giggled. He was always so defensive of the Tardis. It was adorable. “I could take you back home right now,” he warned.

Ariel laughed and pulled the Doctor back to her side and grabbed his hand. “He’s just kidding,” she sighed, shaking her head. Ariel grinned at the Doctor and pressed a kiss to his cheek, ebbing away his anger and making him smile and kiss her forehead.

Wilf was delightfully unfazed by their blatant displays of affection. Instead, he merely smiled at them, remembering when he had a love like that with his own wife.

“Listen, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?” Wilf wondered.

The Doctor peered over his shoulder at Wilf, keeping his arms wrapped around Ariel as he spoke.

“I can’t go back inside my own timeline,” the Doctor said. “I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand?” He prompted.

“Not a word,” Wilf shook his head.

“Welcome aboard,” Ariel giggled.

“Thank you,” Wilf nodded.

They landed by some stables near the Naismith mansion and the Doctor walked out with his arm around Ariel’s shoulders.

Wilf stepped out behind them and glanced around the Tardis with wide eyes. “We’ve moved!” Wilf exclaimed. “We’ve really moved!” 

Ariel laughed and nodded. “Bit maddening, isn’t it?”

“Alright,” the Doctor sighed, peering around the corner of an archway. “Wilfred, you should stay here. Ariel and I will take care of this,” he nodded.

Ariel grinned, her heart soaring at his words. He finally wasn’t trying to push her into what he thought was best. He finally wanted to keep her by his side when it got risky.

“Not bloody likely,” Wilf frowned.

“And don’t swear,” the Doctor reprimanded. “Hold on,” he mumbled. He pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the Tardis. It disappeared and he sighed. “Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the Tardis. That's the last thing we need,” he mumbled.

They marched across the grounds to an archway and the Doctor pushed Ariel behind him when two guards marched past.

“That book said he's a billionaire,” Wilf said. “He's got his own private army.”

The Doctor peered around the corner and watched as the guards passed by before grabbing Ariel’s hand and running to a door that all three of them were too tall for. “Down here,” the Doctor said. He sonicked the door open and they all ran inside with Wilf closing the door behind them.

“This must be the basement,” Ariel sighed and narrowed her eyes at a green light in the distance. “What’s that light?” She wondered.

The Doctor frowned at the strange lighting. “Must be some sort of Gate,” he mumbled. “Wilf?” He prompted. “You coming?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way!” Wilf nodded.

They walked towards the light and on one side of the hallway there was a large Gate like the Doctor had said and on the other side there was an opening to a room with all sorts of computers and technology strayed across it. Inside the room there was also a young blonde woman in a lab coat.

“Nice Gate,” the Doctor remarked with a smirk.

“Hi,” Wilf smiled. “Sorry.

“I’m Ariel, this is the Doctor, and that’s Wilf,” Ariel introduced.

“Don't try calling security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer,” the Doctor warned. “Because I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place.”

“Do you just like saying Shimmer?” Ariel asked.

“It is a fun word,” the Doctor grinned.

“Yeah, it is,” Ariel smiled. “Shimmer.”

“I'm sorry?” The woman frowned, trying to act confused and failing miserably. “What's a Shimmer?”

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and pointed it at her. “Shimmer!” The Doctor exclaimed and she transformed from her human body to one with green skin and spikes out of her head.

“At least you’re the same height,” Ariel shrugged. “I reckon that would’ve been bloody irritating,” she chuckled.

“Oh, my Lord,” Wilf gasped. “She’s a cactus,” he said and Ariel snickered.

“‘Scuse us,” the Doctor said. “Gonna need to have a look at the controls,” he told the woman as he ran up to the computer and pulled on his glasses.

“Sorry, what’s your name?” Ariel asked.

“Addams,” the woman mumbled bitterly, likely still upset that the Doctor had shut off her Shimmer.

“Well, Addams, the man up there. Is he working on this Gate thing?” Ariel asked.

“Yes, do you know him?” Addams frowned. 

“Not really,” Ariel shrugged. “He’s a friend of my boyfriend,” she said, gesturing to the Doctor and Addams nodded.

“Well, whoever he is, he’s a bloody genius. He got that thing working in maybe an hour or so,” Addams shrugged. “It’s maddening.”

“He's got it working, but what is it? What's working?” The Doctor asked, running through the controls to peer at each computer.

Before, Addams could answer him, a tall thin man in a lab coat walked in and stared at them with wide eyes.

“What are you doing here?!” The man exclaimed.

“Ariel?” The Doctor prompted as he lifted up his screwdriver.

“Shimmer!” The couple exclaimed together with identical grins as the Doctor revealed the man was another of the same species as Addams.

Addams peeked out from behind the Doctor and Ariel and waved at him.

“And you are?” Ariel prompted.

“Rossiter,” the man murmured.

“Ah, Rossiter, good to meet you. I’m Ariel, that’s the Doctor and that man over there staring at you like he’s seen a ghost is Wilf,” Ariel introduced. “We know the bloke upstairs working on this Gate thing.”

“Now, tell me quickly, what's going on?” The Doctor asked. “The Master, Harold Saxon, Skeletor, whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there?” He wondered. 

“Meaning what exactly,” Ariel clarified. They all knew he was working on the Gate they didn’t need the pair to get clever and tell them that again wasting time.

“Why do you think he might’ve tampered with it?” Rossiter frowned.

“Possibly,” the Doctor sighed. “I’m not sure yet.”

“But I checked the readings,” Addams reasoned. “He's done good work. It's operational,” she nodded.

“Who are you, though?” The Doctor asked, running back to the controls. “I met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little and red.”

“When was this?” Ariel wondered.

“Christmas before I met you,” the Doctor shrugged. “Anyway?” He prompted the pair.

“That’s a Zocci,” Addams sighed.

“We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci,” Rossiter snapped. “Completely different,” she shook her head.

“Blimey, alright then,” Ariel mumbled and the Doctor snickered and nodded.

“And the Gate is Vinvocci,” Addams nodded. “We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it. And as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship.”

“But what does it do?” The Doctor asked. 

“Yeah, why’s it so important to you lot?” Ariel wondered.

“Well, it mends,” Rossiter shrugged. “It's a simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better.”

“Would the Master really just want that?” Ariel asked. “He might use it to just stop himself,” she suggested. “Last time we saw him he was flashing in between a humanoid form and a skeleton,” she reminded him.

“No, there's got to be more,” the Doctor hummed, narrowing his eyes at the Gate. “Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal.”

He sighed softly and ran back to the controls, knowing there must be something he was missing. He called Ariel over to see if she could pick up on it. While the couple peered at the controls, Wilf frowned at the Gate.

“So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?” Wilf prompted the Vinvocci.

“More of less,” Addams shrugged with a nod.

“Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?” Wilf wondered.

“Oh, good question,” the Doctor sighed. “Why's it so big?”

“That is a bit odd, yeah,” Ariel remarked with a nod.

“It doesn't just mend one person at a time,” Addams scoffed.

“That would be ridiculous,” Rossiter chuckled. 

“Well, less of the jokes and more to the point, yeah?” Ariel said, raising an eyebrow. “Kinda on a time crunch here,” she reminded them.

“It mends whole planets,” Addams said.

The Doctor and Ariel’s faces fell at those four little words, both realizing at the same time what could happen if the Master got his hands on that machine.

“It does what?” The Doctor gasped.

“It transmits the medical template across the entire population,” Addams shrugged.

“Doctor,” Ariel breathed. She turned to face him but his eyes were unfocused, wide and staring off into the distance. “He wouldn’t, would he?” She prompted.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and though his mind was only focusing on stopping the Master, he subconsciously grabbed Ariel’s hand and pulled her along with him, knowing he would need her where her was going.

They bolted through the corridors and up the stairs to the Gate room where everyone was standing anxiously watching the news and the Gate.

As soon as they ran in the room, all the soldiers pointed their guns at the intruders.

“Turn off that Gate right now!” The Doctor bellowed.

“At arms!” One of the men shouted and all the soldiers put their fingers on the triggers.

“No, no, no, no, no,” the Doctor hummed, shielding Ariel as he continued to speak. “Whatever you do, just don't let him near that device,” he warned.

“Above all else, don’t let him inside the Gate,” Ariel gasped.

“Oh, like that was ever going to happen,” the Master chuckled.

The Master used his energy to throw off the straight jacket Naismith had wrapped him in and flew over their heads straight into the Gate.

“Homeless, was I?” The Master smirked. “Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now.”

“Deactivate it,” the Doctor breathed. “All of you, turn the whole thing off!” He cried.

“Shut it down!”  Ariel yelled.

The Master just laughed and as they glanced around, everyone was shaking their heads and frowning at what was inside.

“What’s going on?” Ariel muttered.

“He’s inside my head,” Naismith murmured.

“What?” Ariel frowned. “You’re in all their heads? Why not mine?”

“Oh, I’ve got big plans for you,” the Master chuckled. “Can’t have your thoughts changing just yet.”

“Just stop this!”  The Doctor snapped. “Get out of there!”

As the Doctor and Ariel ran up to the Master, he blasted them with energy knocking them both onto the ground.

“Doctor! Doctor, there's, there's this face!” Wilf cried, running in and clutching his forehead. “It's him,” he gasped, pointing at the Master. “I can see him.”

The Master just grinned at the three of them hauntingly. Ariel and the Doctor scrambled off the ground and the Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and bolted over to the computers to try and stop him.

“There's something wrong. It seems to be affecting the President,” the newscaster for the American News Network announced.

The Doctor slammed his hands down on the keys and stared at Ariel with wide eyes. “I can’t turn it off,” he breathed. While the Doctor was grateful that Ariel wasn’t being affected and though he knew he would have to face the consequences of that soon enough, he was happy to have her by his side in the moment.

“That’s because I locked it, idiot,” the Master snapped.

“Doctor, that doesn’t matter now,” Ariel sighed. “Wilf!” She cried.

The Doctor’s eyes widened as he looked back at Wilf who was wincing in pain and clutching his head.

“Wilfred!” The Doctor exclaimed. The couple ran up to him and the Doctor pulled him into one of the glass cubicles, taking the other one for himself as they freed one of the technicians. “Get inside. Get him out,” the Doctor said.

“What are you gonna do?” Ariel wondered.

“Just need to filter the levels,” the Doctor mumbled.

“Oh, I can see again!” Wilf exclaimed with a grin. “He’s gone.”

“Radiation shielding,” the Doctor nodded. “Now press the button. Let us out,” he instructed.

“You what?” Wilf prompted, holding out his ear to listen.

“The big red button, Wilf,” Ariel said.

“We can’t get out until you press that button,” the Doctor nodded. “That button there.”

Wilf nodded and pressed the button, letting the pair out of the cubicle and allowing them to run up to the Master with wide eyes.

“Fifty seconds and counting,” the Master announced.

“To what?” The Doctor frowned.

“What are you doing?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Oh, the pair of you are going to love this,” the Master hummed.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel’s hand and they tried to run to the controls and figure out what he was going to do.

After a few moments, Wilf’s phone rang out. “Hello? Oh, Gawd. Donna?” Wilf gasped as he answered the phone.

Ariel tossed him a surprised look but shrugged and grabbed the Doctor’s glasses to look through the controls. She could see her fingerprint being plugged into the system, and inhaled sharply. He must’ve taken that when they mind melded. She had no idea what he was saving her for, but she knew it could be nothing good.

“But wait a minute. I mean, what about you? Can’t you see anything?” Wilf asked.

“Doctor, Donna can’t see anything,” Ariel frowned.

“Yeah, I’m a little busy right now,” the Doctor said. He grabbed his glasses off her nose and read the controls on the computer.

“Right,” Ariel sighed.

Wilf’s phone rang again and he glared at it. “Not now, Winston,” Wilf grumbled.

“The template is set for every human except me,” Ariel murmured.

“How is he doing this?” The Doctor frowned. He walked up to the Master with a raised eyebrow. “What is it, hypnotism?” He guessed. “Mind control. You're grafting your thoughts inside them, is that it?” He wondered.

“Oh, that's way too easy,” the Master chuckled, shaking his head. “No, no, no. They're not going to think like me, they're going to become me. And, zero!” He exclaimed. 

The Master clapped his hands and a burst of energy flew out from him and the Gate. Everyone’s faces began blurring around them, including the Master’s.

“You can’t have,” the Doctor gasped.

“How is that even possible?” Ariel breathed, glancing at all the other humans in the room with them. 

The only three humans on Earth with their faces unchanged were Ariel, Wilf, and Donna.

“What is it?” Wilf frowned.

“It’s the whole bloody world,” Ariel breathed. “He’s turning himself into everyone.”

The Doctor glanced at the other people in the room with wide eyes. He had no idea how he was going to defeat that. He took a deep breath and grabbed Ariel’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

She turned to him with a soft smile. “We’ve got this,” she nodded. “I promise. We’re in this together.”

“Doctor?” Wilf prompted. “She's starting to remember,” he sighed.

The Doctor and Ariel turned back to the Master who’s face was just beginning to fall out of the blur as he smirked at them.

“What is it?” Wilf asked desperately. “What have you done, you monster?”

“Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?” The Master asked with an innocent smirk.

“Or to me?” Another Master behind them asked.

“Or to me?” A Master in a pink shirt grinned.

“Or to me?” Yet another Master asked.

“Or to us?” Three Masters in security armor chorused, lifting up their helmets and smiling at them.

“Breaking news,” the Master on the news smirked. “I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me!” He exclaimed.

“The human race was always your favourite, Doctor. But now, there is no human race. There is only the Master race,” the Master laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've really been looking forward to posting the dynamic between the Master and Ariel. I'm so happy I finally get to share this.


	43. Novocaine

“Now then, I've got a planet to run,” the Master sighed, clapping his hand and turning to screens on the wall displaying different versions of himself across the world, all having taken the place of a human. “Is everybody ready?” He prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“Six billion, seven hundred and twenty seven million, nine hundred and forty nine thousand three hundred and thirty eight versions of us awaiting orders,” the Naismith version of the Master announced.

“This is Washington,” the American President Master said. “As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth's defences.”

“UNIT HQ, Geneva reporting,” the General Master nodded. “All under your command, sir.”

“And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir, with over two point five million soldiers, sir,” the Beijing Master said proudly. “Present arms!” He ordered and all the soldiers that looked like the Master did so.

“Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship,” the Master sighed, grinned, turning back to the trio he had restrained. His smile fell almost automatically at the sight of them. “Search them,” the Master ordered his clones.

The Doctor was bound and gagged, strapped upright to a trolley. Wilf was tied to a chair nearby, and Ariel had nothing but a simple rope tied around her hands. She assumed he knew they couldn’t exactly run when everyone in the world was him, but it was still a valiant effort.

His clones searched the pair and pulled out a gun from Wilf’s coat.

“Wilf?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Ooo, and look at this. Good man!” The Master laughed. 

The Doctor could say nothing but he stared at Wilf with wide eyes. 

“I wasn’t going to use it!” Wilf insisted.

“Oh, but it’s very good you have this,” the Master hummed. “Very good, indeed because I believe it is time for Miss Parsons to find out why she’s so special,” he mumbled, delicately cupping Ariel’s cheek.

Ariel felt her stomach twist like she was going to vomit at the Master’s touch while the Doctor fought against the trolley so much she worried it may tip over.

“Because an opportunity like this only comes once in a lifetime,” the Master laughed. “The Doctor falling in love with a killer,” he hummed, smirking at her.

“He already knows that. He knows everything about me,” Ariel grumbled.

“Oh, but does he?” The Master breathed.

“Stop it,” Ariel snapped.

“Does he know what you’ve been running from?” The Master wondered.

“Stop,” Ariel muttered, clenching her jaw as she glared at the Master.

“The fact that after all this time,” the Master sighed, caressing her cheek with the cool gun. “You’re still the murderer you started out as.”

“Stop!” Ariel yelled.

The Master laughed victoriously. “And there she is! The girl you’ve been running from ever since you started running. The girl you never wanted him to see,” he smirked. “Shall we show her off?”

Ariel’s stomach twisted and her hands began to shake as the floor swayed from beneath her feet. She knew what he was planning. Why after every dream of him she would have an awful foreboding along with it. 

He wanted her to kill somebody. 

To show the Doctor that she never really changed with him and make him look like a fool and lose the woman he loved most in the universe. Not only that, but it would break her and shatter her into pieces. The Master knocked out a formidable threat with one punch.

“No,” Ariel breathed, her voice shaky and ragged, unlike her usual firm tone. Tears began to form in her eyes and her vision blurred with the inability to wipe them away. “No, you can’t make me,” she shook her head. “I won’t do it!”

“Hush now,” the Master hissed, placing a single finger to his lips. “Listen to your Master,” he hummed. He took a step back and raised the gun to the Doctor’s head. “Agree to it or I’ll put a bullet in his head.”

Ariel and the Doctor’s eyes widened simultaneously and the Doctor seemed to be shaking his head furiously.

Ariel’s heart thrummed loudly in her ears and her entire body seemed to be shaking in fear as her mind spun furiously, trying to come up with a solution or a way out.

Ariel sighed softly and nodded. “Alright, but you have to untie these ropes,” she mumbled, nodded to her arms behind her back.

The Doctor fought furiously against the trolley, but it only resulted in the Master laughing and nodding to the security men, all clones of him, to do as she said.

They released her from her bonds and she held out her hands for the gun. The Master chuckled low and ominously as he looked down at her, smirking in his victory.

Ariel inhaled sharply as her fingers wrapped delicately around the gun. She took a deep breath and raised the gun to the Master’s head, fire raging in her eyes as she glared at him.

The Master just laughed and shook his head, spinning around as Ariel held the gun with a steady hand, never taking it off the Master’s head.

“At arms!” The Master shouted and each security Master in the room with a gun, raised their weapons at the Doctor.

Ariel’s eyes widened and tears traced her eyelids as she lowered the gun and the Master just laughed and nodded.

“Don’t ever think you can outsmart me,” the Master hissed. “Now, you have a body waiting for you,” he hummed, stepping back and waving to Wilf.

“No!” Ariel yelled, raising the gun once again to the Master.

“You don’t have a choice!” The Master snapped. “Either he dies or the Doctor does. Now, who are you willing to sacrifice?” He wondered. “Because however this ends Miss Parsons, you have blood on your hands.”

Ariel glanced between the two men with wide eyes, and the gun in her hand began to shake.

“It’s alright, sweetheart. You can do it. You don’t have to feel guilty,” Wilf encouraged. “You and the Doctor have to stop this man. You don’t need me around.”

“No,” Ariel mumbled, her lower lip trembling as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

She looked back at the Doctor. The man she loved and knew she would die without. There’s no way she could put a bullet in Wilf’s head and that only meant one thing: the Doctor would die and she would be alone.

Ariel took a deep breath and sniffled before making up her mind and glancing up at the Master.

Without a wink of hesitation, she raised the gun to her own temple.

The Doctor fought harder than he ever had before, knocking the trolley to the ground as he tried to stop Ariel.

“No!” The Master screamed, running forward, but she just stepped back.

“This is the choice, Master. Neither of them dies and I don’t put a bullet through my head or you get yourself a martyr,” Ariel said, glaring at the Master.

The Master glared at her. “No, no, you don’t get outsmart me,” he muttered. “You don’t get to play my game!” He roared. The Master took a deep breath and turned back to Ariel with a small smirk. 

Suddenly, every gun in the room was either pointed at her or the Doctor.

“How about I just kill both of you and get this over with?” The Master smiled. “You get one more chance. I give you a different body and you show off that fire to your dear Doctor. If you don’t, he regenerates and you’re dead.”

“A different body,” Ariel mumbled. “But everyone on Earth is you?”

“And if you and your dear Doctor ever change them back, you get to live with the fact that you killed again,” the Master hissed.

Ariel took a shaky breath. The Doctor was right. He was clever. He knew there was a chance he wouldn’t win and he was more than prepared to leave a lasting impact if that did happen.

Ariel glanced around at all the guns pointed at them and took a shaky breath. She knew she had to do it. Not to save herself but to save the Doctor. 

He couldn’t regenerate yet. 

If she could, she would prolong it forever, but she had to stick with what she could get which was prolonging it as best she could.

She sighed softly and gave a small nod to the Master. He grinned.

“Get the Naismith one in here!” The Master snapped.

“Yes, sir,” one of the security men nodded before heading out of the room.

The Doctor stared at her with wide eyes, trying as best he could to shake his head but Ariel simply sighed.

“I have to,” Ariel shrugged. “I’m sorry.”

The Naismith version of the Master was shoved inside and looked thoroughly confused.

“What’s going on, sir?” The Naismith Master asked. “Do we have new orders?”

“Ariel,” the Master prompted.

Ariel took a deep breath and raised the gun to Naismith’s head. “I’m sorry,” Ariel sighed. She closed her eyes and fired a single shot. 

A faint buzzing arose in her ears as she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears as she felt the body drop onto her feet.

Ariel opened her eyes for a single moment and felt her chest grow tight. She stared down in horror and turned away, tossing the gun to the Master and covering her ears as she stared at the wall and tried to get her breathing back to normal.

The Master tossed the gun to the side and clenched his jaw. He took a deep breath and looked up at the guards. “Well, don’t just stand there, restrain her!” The Master snapped. “And get rid of that bloody body,” he sneered.

“Yes, sir,” the guards chorused.

Three of the guards went to restrain Ariel. Two of them pulled her backwards as the third brought forward some rope and a chair for her to sit in.

Ariel didn’t even fight them, she just went limp in their arms, silent tears streaming down her face as she stared down at the bloodstain on the floor.

She knew what she had done was right. The Master had aged up the Doctor before until he was visibly nine hundred years old and flung him in a birdcage, laughing and taunting at him and forcing him to watch his victory. If he had already won and conquered the Earth, why would he keep the Doctor around? Plus, if he knew he could regenerate it wouldn’t be a big deal to just shoot him.

Ariel had saved the Doctor’s life, but she had also killed again. She had done what she swore against, and it rested in the pit of her stomach like a rock at the bottom of an ocean.

All of a sudden, a phone rang out and Ariel swallowed her guilt and looked up with wide eyes as the Master security guards finished tying her to the chair.

“But that’s a mobile,” the Master frowned.

“Yeah, it's mine,” Wilf nodded. “Let me turn it off,” he said, trying to shrug through the ropes to reach his mobile.

“No, no, no, no, no,” the Master shook his head. “I don't think you understand. Everybody on this planet is me. And I'm not phoning you, so who the hell is that?” He asked.

The Master dug his hand into Wilf’s pockets and pulled out a mobile.

“Donna,” the Master frowned at the mobile. “Who's Donna?” He asked.

“She's no one,” Wilf insisted. “Just leave it.”

“Do you know a Donna?” The Master prompted Ariel.

“Never met her before in my life,” Ariel lied.

The Master clenched his jaw and answered the mobile, placing it on speaker for them to hear.

“Gramps, don't hang up. You've got to help me,” Donna gasped.

The Master sighed softly and put his hand over the receiver. “Who is she? Why didn't she change?”

“Gramps, I can't hear you,” Donna said through the phone.

“Well, it was this thing the Doctor did,” Wilf shrugged. “He did it to her. The Metacrisis.”

“Oh, he loves playing with Earth girls,” the Master sighed with a roll of his eyes, he noticed Ariel and smirked. “Case in point,” he nodded and Ariel scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

“Are you there?” Donna asked.

The Master looked up his clones on the screen. “Find her,” the Master nodded. “Trace the call.”

His clones nodded and followed his orders.

“Are you still there? Can you hear me?” Donna asked desperately.

“Say goodbye to the freak, Granddad,” the Master instructed, holding the phone up to Wilf’s ear.

“Donna, get out of there!” Wilf cried. “Just get out of there. I'm telling you, run!”

“What do I do?” Donna gasped.

“Run, sweetheart, that's all. Run for your life!” Wilf yelled into the phone.

Ariel inhaled sharply and crossed her fingers, praying Donna would be safe against the Master.

“There’s more of them,” Donna breathed. “They’re everywhere.”

“Look, I'm telling you to run, Donna,” Wilf insisted.

“Donna, don’t look at them, just run!” Ariel bellowed and the Master glared at her. He was deciding he probably should’ve had her killed when he had the chance. He nodded to one of the clones and they but a gag in her mouth just like the Doctor.

Ariel smiled against the gag and turned to the Doctor who was grinning at her. The couple was identical in that moment, both considered too annoying to the Master for them to be allowed to speak.

“Just run, sweetheart,” Wilf sighed. “Just run.”

“It's not just them. I can see those things again. Those creatures. Why can I see a giant wasp?” Donna asked desperately.

Ariel glanced at the Doctor with wide eyes and he just gave her a slight nod, signaling that it would be okay.

Ariel sighed softly into the gag and nodded.

“Donna, don't think about that. Donna, my love,” Wilf said. “Don’t!”

“And it hurts,” Donna moaned. “My head. It keeps getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter!” She cried. “What did I-?” Before she could finish her thought, there was a surge and the line went dead.

“Donna? What was that? Donna? Donna, are you there?” Wilf asked desperately. “Donna! Donna! Donna!”

The Master turned to the Doctor and saw him grinning. The Doctor winked and the Master clenched his jaw and walked up to him, removing the gag from his mouth.

“That's better. Hello,” the Doctor smiled.

“What did you do?” The Master asked. 

“First, you remove the gag from Ariel’s mouth, then I’ll tell you,” the Doctor nodded, his gaze firm as he stared at the Master.

The Master sighed softly and nodded to a member of his security team. They marched up to Ariel and removed the gag from her mouth.

“Ah, finally,” Ariel sighed.

“That’s better,” the Doctor nodded with a small smile. “But really, did you think I'd leave one of my best friends without a defence mechanism?” He prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“Doctor?” Wilf frowned. “What happened?”

“She’s alright,” the Doctor assured him. “She’s fine, I promise. She’ll just sleep.”

“Tell me, where’s your Tardis?” The Master asked.

“You could be so wonderful,” the Doctor sighed.

“Where is it?” The Master insisted.

“You're a genius. You're stone cold brilliant, you are. I swear, you really are. You’ve made mistakes, sure, fine. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honour. Because you don't need to own the universe, just see it. To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space. That's ownership enough,” the Doctor shrugged. “You don’t need to hurt people or force others to do it for you,” he said.

“Would it stop, then?” The Master asked. “The noise in my head?”

“We can help,” the Doctor nodded and glanced at Ariel who was staring down into her lap, refusing to meet the Master’s eyes.

Ariel understood that the Master’s plan had failed and the Doctor didn’t think any less of her, but she still thought less of herself. She had allowed him to get inside her head because he threatened the one thing she couldn’t live without, and she didn’t know what she had allowed herself to become because of it.

“I don’t know what I’d be without that noise,” the Master shrugged.

“I wonder what I'd be, without you,” the Doctor muttered. 

“Yeah,” the Master sighed.

“What does he mean?” Wilf frowned. “What noise?” He asked.

“The drumming,” Ariel breathed, looking up at the Master with wide eyes.

The Master nodded. “The never ending drums. It began on Gallifrey, as children. Not that you'd call it childhood. More a life of duty. Eight years old. I was taken for initiation, to stare into the Untempered Schism,” he explained.

“What does that mean?” Wilf asked, shaking his head in confusion.

“It's a gap in the fabric of reality,” the Doctor said. “You can see into the Time Vortex itself. And it hurts.”

“It makes a Time Lord a Time Lord,” Ariel nodded. “But so young,” she sighed.

“They took me there in the dark,” the Master muttered bitterly. “I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me. Drums. The never ending drums. Listen to it. Listen,” he insisted.

“Then let’s find it,” the Doctor nodded. “The three of us,” he said, nodding to Ariel who gave nothing but a mere flash of a smile at the thought of traveling with the Master.

“Except,” the Master breathed, his eyes widening as he realized. “Oh. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Oh, that's good,” he hummed, smirking at the couple.

“What?” The Doctor asked. “What is?”

“The noise exists within my head, and now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine. Oh. Oh, yes,” the Master laughed victoriously but was thrown back when the skeleton inside of him flashed once again.

Ariel leant up in her seat with wide eyes. The Master hadn’t gotten better. He was still dying. Every inch of him. Still craving that energy he lost when he was brought back to life.

“The Gate wasn't enough,” the Doctor sighed. “You're still dying.”

“This body was born out of death. All it can do is die,” the Master spat in fury at his own circumstance. “But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said the end of time.”

“I said something is returning. I was shown a prophecy,” the Doctor nodded. “That's why we need your help.”

“What if I'm part of it? Don't you see?” The Master laughed. “The drumbeat is calling from so far away. From the end of time itself. And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals. I could find its source. Oh, Doctor. That's what your prophecy was. Me!” He exclaimed with a grin. “Where’s the Tardis?”

“No. Just stop,” the Doctor snapped. “Just think.”

The Master turned to one of the guards and nodded to Ariel. “Kill her,” he instructed. 

A guard much taller than the Master walked up to Ariel.

“No, you let her go!” Wilf cried.

“It’s alright,” Ariel nodded with wide eyes as she spotted the height difference between the Master and the guard. She grinned up at the man.

“I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is, or your little girlfriend is dead,” the Master snapped.

“Don’t tell him, Doctor!” Wilf cried.

“I’ll kill her right now!” The Master shouted.

“Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone dead stupid,” the Doctor chuckled.

The Master clenched his jaw. “Take aim,” he ordered.

“You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?” The Doctor prompted.

“Like what?” The Master implored.

“That guard is one inch too tall,” the Doctor nodded and the tall guard knocked the Master out with the butt of his rifle.

He took off his helmet to reveal Rossiter with his green spiky head underneath.

“Oh my God, I hit him. I've never hit anyone in my life,” Rossiter gasped.

“Oh, forget that and get us out of here!” Ariel cried, struggling against her bonds.

As Rossiter nodded and untied Ariel, Addams ran in and sighed at the four of them.

“Well, come on,” Addams sighed. “We need to get out of here fast.”

“Doing it!” Ariel exclaimed. Rossiter freed her from the ropes and Ariel ran up to the Doctor to help him while Addams freed Wilf.

“God bless the cactuses!” Wilf exclaimed happily and Ariel giggled.

“That’s cacti,” the Doctor corrected with a nod.

“That’s racist!” Rossiter snapped and Ariel snickered.

Ariel leant forward to the Doctor’s ear and glanced warily at the other three. “You’re not mad at me?” She breathed.

The Doctor smiled softly and shook his head. “I could never be,” he shook his head.

Ariel frowned. He was supposed to be angry at her. In fact, he was supposed to be furious that she had killed just to save a life that was already lost. 

“Why not?” Ariel wondered.

“Because I would’ve done the same thing,” the Doctor said simply and Ariel’s eyes widened.

The Doctor. The man who abhors violence, never carrying a weapon, would’ve killed for her.

Ariel smiled softly, her heart soaring at the very thought of him doing such a thing for her. She supposed they both became what they hated most when they hoped to save the life of the other.

“Come on!” Addams snapped. “We've got to get out.”

“There’s too many buckles and straps,” Ariel sighed.

“Just wheel him,” Addams shrugged.

Ariel grinned and laughed as the Doctor’s eyes widened. He realized that at the chance, Ariel would love to wheel him around the mansion and take the mickey out of him for it later.

“No, no, no. Get me out. No, no, no, don't. Don't!” The Doctor yelled as Ariel started to wheel him across the room. “No, no, no.”

They ran through the corridors, narrowly avoiding rooms that held the Masters in them before they ran into a corridor with two different ways they could go.

“Which way?” Rossiter asked, staring at the corridors in confusion.

“This way,” Addams nodding, waving them down one of the corridors.

Wilf and Ariel ran after the pair and the Doctor was utterly helpless as he struggled against the straps keeping his hands down.

“No, no, no, no, no. The other way. I've got my Tardis!”  The Doctor exclaimed.

“I know what I’m doing,” Addams assured him with a nod.

“Doctor, we’ve gotta trust them they saved us,” Ariel reminded him.

“No, no, no, just just listen to me!” The Doctor cried. It wasn’t too hard for him to figure out what they were doing and if they wanted to go to their own ship, they would be dead in minutes.

“He’s just pouty ‘cos he had a gag in his mouth,” Ariel shook her head.

They reached the stairs and the Doctor’s eyes widened as he looked at the approaching staircase.

“Not the stairs. Not the stairs!” The Doctor cried.

“Sorry, going down!” Ariel exclaimed and she pushed the Doctor down the stairs making his head bounce uncomfortably on the trolley.

“Worst rescue ever!” The Doctor snapped.

They reached the basement corridor where they had entered before and Addams lead them to what looked like a large computer room. As they reached the very end of the room, Ariel stopped wheeling the Doctor and tried to pull the straps off of him.

“Just, just stop and listen to me!” The Doctor insisted.

Before the Doctor could get a word in, the Master ran in with a bunch of armed guards.

“Gotcha,” the Master smirked.

“You think so?” Addams smirked.

Addams pressed her wristwatch and both the Doctor and Ariel inhaled sharply.

“Oh, don’t do that!” Ariel exclaimed.

“No, no, no, no, don’t!” The Doctor cried.

Addams didn’t listen to them and they all vanished from that spot and landed on their spaceship’s teleport room.

“Oh, you did it,” Ariel moaned, dropping her head onto the Doctor’s chest in annoyance.

“Don’t say thanks, will you,” Addams snapped.

“You really think it’s going to be that easy?!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Exactly,” the Doctor sighed. “He’s not going to let us go,” he said. “Now, get me out of this thing.”

“Oh, pushy,” Ariel sneered and got him out of the straps.

“Come on!” The Doctor yelled.

“If you keep snapping at me, I’ll leave you in it,” Ariel insisted and the Doctor rolled his eyes but quieted down.

Meanwhile, Wilf walked up to the window with wide eyes as he looked down at the Earth.

“Oh, my goodness me,” Wilf gasped. “We're in space!” He laughed joyfully.

Eventually, Ariel got the Doctor free and he jumped up, immediately pulling out his sonic screwdriver and sonicking the teleport controls so the Master couldn’t get through.

“Where’s your flight deck?” The Doctor asked, turning to Addams.

“But we're safe,” Addams shrugged. “We're a hundred thousand miles above the Earth,” she insisted.

“The Master is six billion people on Earth,” Ariel reminded her. “Or did you just forget that?”

“And he’s got every single missile on the planet ready to fire,” the Doctor nodded.

Addams looked like she wanted to argue but sighed softly and shook her head. “Good point,” she remarked.

They all ran out and Ariel only returned to lead Wilf away from the window where his eyes were fixated on the Earth. 

“But we’re in space!” Wilf exclaimed.

“Yep,” Ariel nodded, continuing to pull him away.

They headed back to the flight deck where the Doctor was trying to take control and stop the Master from tracking them down.

“We’ve got to close it down!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“No chance, mate,” Rossiter shook his head. “We’re going home.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Ariel moaned.

“We're just a salvage team,” Addams shrugged. “Local politics has got nothing to do with us. Not unless there's a carnival. Sooner we get back to Vinvocci space the better,” she nodded.

“We’re not leaving!” The Doctor snapped.

“We can’t just leave Earth when everyone has been turned into the bloody Master!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Maybe, you can’t,” Rossiter nodded. “But we can.”

The Doctor sighed and pulled out his screwdriver once again to sabotage the ship and shut down all of the controls.

“Or we can do it that way,” Ariel mumbled with a shrug.

There was no sound other than the silent hum of the engines as Rossiter and Addams both looked at the Doctor as though they planned to scream at him when he just held a finger to his lips.

“Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush,” the Doctor hummed, turning to the window and glancing out at the Earth.

Ariel watched with wide eyes as they remained quiet for what felt like hours, watching and listening for anything leaving the Earth aimed at them.

Ariel walked up to the Doctor and grabbed his hand, squeezing tightly as she stared down at the Earth.

Addams sighed in annoyance when there wasn’t even a sign of anything possibly coming out to destroy them.

“No sign of any missiles,” Addams sighed. “No sign of anything. You've wrecked the place!” She snapped.

“The engines are burnt out,” Rossiter mumbled, clicking the controls uselessly. “All we've got is auxiliary lights. Everything else is kaput. We can't move. We're stuck in orbit,” he nodded.

“Thanks to you idiots!” Addams yelled before marching out of the room.

Ariel rolled her eyes. “If he could’ve tracked us, who knows what he would’ve done, so you’re welcome!” Ariel yelled.

Rossiter just sighed softly and left the room. Ariel glared at him as he left before taking a deep breath and turning back to the Doctor who took a seat on a small staircase in the room.

“I know you, though. I bet you've got a plan, haven't you? Eh? Come on. You've always got a trick up your sleeve. Nice little bit of the old Doctor flim-flam,” Wilf chuckled, nudging the Doctor happily and doing a Tommy Cooper impression. “Sort of thing? Eh? Oh, blimey,” he sighed.

Ariel smiled softly and sat down beside the Doctor, grabbing his hand and resting her head on his shoulder.

Wilf got up and started walking around the ship, deciding to take a small glance around a spaceship while he got the chance.

Meanwhile, Ariel looked up at the Doctor with a small smile. “I don’t deserve this, you know. I saw you when the Master wanted me to kill. You didn’t want me to do it.”

“I still wish you hadn’t,” the Doctor nodded.

“Then why are you being so good to me still? I did exactly what he said. I proved that I was a murderer just like I thought I was,” Ariel sighed.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about you Ariel Parsons is that you never kill because you want to,” the Doctor said. “Now, I don’t like the fact that you’ve killed just as much as I don’t like the fact that I’ve done it, but at least you did it with good intentions.”

“I figured you’d be mad since you’ve got that prophecy,” Ariel mumbled.

“If it was me in your place and the Master had asked me to kill to save your life I would’ve done it,” the Doctor nodded.

“I just feel like I should be getting this punishment right now that I’m not getting,” Ariel shrugged. “I should have to pay for killing that man and you’re being too nice.”

“Punishment never comes in what other people say,” the Doctor sighed, shaking his head at her. “It comes in your guilt. We should know that as well as anyone. Even if everyone in the universe still loves you after they watch you kill, the guilt still follows.”

“I hate it,” Ariel breathed, resting her head on his shoulder once again. “I thought maybe I was wiping it away, but after today,” she sucked in a sharp breath and shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of it.”

“No,” the Doctor hummed. “You never can,” he muttered, brushing her hair out of her eyes and wrapping his arm around her.

“I don’t even know if I just want to get rid of it or find a way to live with it at this point,” Ariel shrugged. “I feel like I have this bad person inside of me that, after every time I get more blood on my hands, she gets closer to coming out.”

The Doctor nodded. “I know the feeling. That’s why I needed you back on Mars. That man. That person who has so much anger and guilt wearing him down. He came out, and I think being with somebody. Especially who understands. It keeps it away.”

“I’m just scared it’ll come out with you and you’ll hate me forever because of it,” Ariel sighed.

The Doctor smiled softly. “I could never hate you. No matter what either of us wind up doing, we’ll get through it,” he nodded. “I promise. And for now, you’ve just gotta find a way to cope with what you leave behind.”

Ariel took a deep breath and nodded, wrapping her arms around the Doctor’s abdomen and closing her eyes.

In the Doctor’s arms, there was no way to describe what she felt other than pure bliss. She momentarily forgot about all the dead she had left behind and just felt him by her side. The past and future faded away and all that mattered was the safety and the way her heart swelled with adoration for him in that moment. She wouldn’t change a second of it.

The Doctor sighed softly and rested his cheek on her head, pulling her as close to him as possible as they looked out at the Earth. 

They drained all the fear from each other. Whatever they may be worried about, their oncoming deaths, who they may become, what they may do. It all disappeared when they were together. 

They clung to each other as though they were the only two lives left in the universe. Like they were the only form of life and love they could receive for the rest of eternity.

The Doctor looked down at Ariel like she was the sun of his universe, shining loud and bright for everyone to see. She brought him life when he thought he was lost. She was the reason he still existed. 

In his arms, she shivered and his eyes widened.

“Are you cold?” The Doctor asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“A bit,” Ariel shrugged. “But it’s alright,” she nodded. “I think you might’ve shut the heating off when you stopped the ship.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and stood up, heading over to some of the controls with his sonic out. “Well, let’s see if I can’t get it back on,” he hummed.

“Aye, aye,” Wilf chuckled as he walked in. “Got this old tub mended?” He asked with a smirk.

“Just trying to fix the heating,” the Doctor mumbled.

Wilf nodded and walked over to Ariel’s side, peering out the window with a small smile.

“Oh. I've always dreamt of a view like that,” Wilf sighed. “Hee, hee. I'm an astronaut. It's dawn over England, look. Brand new day. My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now. Do you think he changed them, in their graves?” He wondered.

The Doctor just stared at Wilf with wide yet sympathetic eyes. “I’m sorry,” he shrugged.

Wilf walked up to the window and Ariel walked up to his side, placing her palm on it as she stared down at her home.

“No, not your fault,” Wilf shook his head.

“Isn’t it?” The Doctor prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s not,” Ariel snapped. “You didn’t bring the Master back from the dead,” she mumbled.

“Oh, 1948, I was over there,” Wilf smiled. “End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot, I was. Stood on this rooftop, in the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?” He chuckled. 

“I’m older than you,” the Doctor nodded.

“And I listen to his tales,” Ariel smirked as the Doctor walked over and hugged her from behind while the heater started working.

“Get away,” Wilf frowned, shaking his head.

“I’m nine hundred and six,” the Doctor nodded, placing his chin on Ariel’s head.

“What, really, though?” Wilf asked with wide eyes.

“Seriously,” Ariel smirked.

“Yeah,” the Doctor nodded.

“Nine hundred years,” Wilf sighed. “We must look like insects to you,” he remarked.

The Doctor watched him warily for a moment and looked at him and Ariel. These two little humans willing to risk everything in their short lives to save the lives of six billion people below them.

“I think you look like giants,” the Doctor said firmly.

Wilf took a deep breath and reached into his coat, pulling out the revolver that nearly took Ariel’s life. “Listen, I, I want you to have this. I've kept it all this time, and I thought,” he began, starting to hand it to the Doctor and Ariel.

Ariel’s eyes widened and the Doctor took a step back, shaking his head. 

“No,” the Doctor breathed.

“No, but if you take it, you could,” Wilf tried, taking a step toward them and trying to hand the gun to them once again.

“No,” the Doctor insisted with wide eyes. “You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then,” he remembered.

“Too scared I suppose,” Wilf shrugged. “But you said, you were told he will knock four times and then you die. Well, that's him, isn't it? The Master. That noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you,” he nodded.

“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed.

Ariel closed her eyes and inhaled sharply.

“Then kill him first,” Wilf insisted, holding out the gun once again.

“And that's how the Master started,” the Doctor sighed, stepping away and raking his fingers through his hair. “It's not like I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse. I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think a Time Lord lives too long. I can't. I just can't,” he mumbled, sniffling as Ariel walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. 

The Doctor took a shaky breath and turned around to hug her properly.

“If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?” Wilf wondered.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor lied with a small shrug.

Ariel looked up and watched his eyes, she cupped his cheek delicately and sighed. “Yes, you do,” she nodded.

“Doctor, what happens,” Wilf pressed.

The Doctor took a deep breath and met Wilf’s eyes. “The template snaps,” he said simply.

“What, they go back to being human?” Wilf guessed and the Doctor nodded numbly. “They're alive, and human,” he concluded. “Then don't you dare, sir. Don't you dare put him before them. Now you take this. That's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. And please don't die. You're the most wonderful man and I don't want you to die,” he said, beginning to choke back sobs.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a look and the Doctor nodded. The Doctor grabbed the gun from Wilf’s hands and Ariel ran up to Wilf and hugged him tightly, comforting him as he cried.

The Doctor sighed softly and stared at the gun in his hands for a long moment before glancing up at Wilf and Ariel.

“Never,” the Doctor breathed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter, holy shit


	44. One Last Bow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried twice while writing this.

Just then, the speakers crackled above them and the Master’s image appeared on a large screen beside the controls.

“A star fell from the sky,” the Master sighed. “Don't you want to know where from? Because now it makes sense, Doctor.”

Rossiter and Addams walked in and stared at the screen with wide eyes. Addams tapped around on the controls for the moment and nodded.

“It’s an open broadcast,” Addams announced. Rossiter reached forward to the controls and Addams smacked his hand. “Don’t reply or he’ll know where we are.”

“The whole of my life. My destiny,” the Master said. “The star was a diamond. And the diamond was a Whitepoint Star.”

The Doctor staggered a few steps back with wide eyes and Ariel turned to him with a small frown.

“Doctor?” Ariel prompted. “What? What is it?”

“And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift,” the Master nodded. “Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be spectacular,” he hummed. “Over and out.”

Wilf and Ariel turned to the Doctor and saw him looking at nothing in particular with wide and glazed over eyes.

“What's he on about?” Wilf frowned. What's he doing? Doctor, what does that mean?” He asked.

“Doctor, what’s a Whitepoint Star?” Ariel asked.

“A Whitepoint star is only found on one planet,” the Doctor breathed. “Gallifrey,” he nodded. “Which means it's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning.”

“Well, I mean, that's good, isn't it?” Wilf prompted, watching the Doctor and Ariel in confusion as they stared at each other in horror. “I mean, that's your people,” he shrugged.

The Doctor pulled the revolver of of his suit and inhaled sharply, he glanced at Ariel and she gave him a short nod.

The Doctor grabbed her hand and they ran up to the controls. All of a sudden, over the speakers a beat of four echoed through the ship.

“What’s that?” Rossiter frowned.

“Coming from Earth. It's on every single wavelength,” Addams murmured.

“It’s the Master,” Ariel breathed. “He’s contacting them,” she said with wide eyes. 

The Doctor took a deep breath and pulled out his sonic, working on the controls and starting all the systems back up again.

“But you said your people were dead,” Wilf reminded him with a frown. “Past tense,” he nodded.

“Inside the Time War,” the Doctor mumbled. “And the whole War was Timelocked. Like, sealed inside a bubble. It's not a bubble but just think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or get out of the Timelock. Don't you see?” He sighed. “Nothing can get in or get out, except something that was already there.”

“The signal,” Wilf said with wide eyes as he realized. “Since he was a kid.”

“If they can follow the signal, they can escape before they die,” the Doctor muttered.

“Well, then, big reunion,” Wilf smiled. “We'll have a party.”

Ariel almost wanted to laugh about how sweet Wilf was. He didn’t see how dangerous a planet in the midst of one of the biggest wars in the galaxy could be.

“Not exactly,” Ariel murmured.

“There will be no party,” the Doctor shook his head.

“But I've heard you talk about your people like they're wonderful,” Wilf frowned.

“That's how I choose to remember them, the Time Lords of old,” the Doctor sighed. “But then they went to war. An endless war, and it changed them right to the core. You've seen my enemies, Wilf. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them,” he explained and Wilf’s face dropped as he realized.

“Time Lords, what lords?” Addams frowned. “Anyone want to explain?”  She prompted.

“It’s easier not to if I’m honest,” Ariel mumbled.

“Right, yes, you,” the Doctor nodded, pointing a finger at Addams. “This is a salvage ship, yes? You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Addams said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“So, you’ve got asteroid lasers!” The Doctor exclaimed with a grin.

“Sorry, he’s like a big kid sometimes,” Ariel smiled.

“Yeah, but they’re all frazzled,” Rossiter sighed.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and pointed it at the controls. “Consider them unfrazzled. You there,” he said, pointing to Addams. “I’m going to need you on navigation. And you, get in the laser-pod. Wilfred,” the Doctor prompted, spinning around to the man.

“Yes?” Wilfred asked.

“Laser number two,” the Doctor nodded. “This old soldier’s still got one more battle,” he smirked.

“This ship can't move. It's dead!” Addams snapped, stomping her foot like an angry child.

The Doctor just winked and pulled two levers forward, powering up the whole ship once again. “Fix the heating, the rest will follow,” he grinned.

“But now they can see us,” Addams sighed.

“Oh, yes!” The Doctor exclaimed with a grin. He grabbed Ariel’s hand and ran up to the wheel and Addams glared at the pair of them.

“This is my ship, and you're not moving it!” Addams snapped. “Step away from the wheel.”

“Oh, blimey,” Ariel moaned. She was tired of people trying to assert themselves over seeing what needed to be done to save lives. 

“There's an old Earth saying, Captain. A phrase of great power and wisdom, and consolation to the soul in times of need,” the Doctor nodded, his face very stern as he spoke.

“What’s that, then?” Addams prompted.

“Allons-y!” The Doctor exclaimed with a grin and Ariel laughed as he started moving the ship back down to Earth.

The Doctor sped up the ship as quick as he could and Ariel clung to him and the controls, laughing as she watched them speed back down to Earth.

“Come on,” the Doctor muttered. “Come on!”

“You are blinking flipping mad,” Addams gasped.

“You two, what did I say?” The Doctor frowned at Rossiter and Wilf still standing beside him. “Lasers,” he nodded.

“What for?” Rossiter wondered.

“Because of the missiles. We've got to fight off an entire planet,” the Doctor sighed.

“Definitely a new one,” Ariel breathed with a grin. The Doctor smirked at her and the two men ran to the missiles to fight off all of planet Earth.

“Hey!” Wilf called once he took his seat. “How does this thing work?!” He exclaimed.

“The tracking's automatic,” Rossiter said. “Just deploy the trigger on the joystick,” he instructed.

Ariel saw three large missiles soar straight towards them and the Doctor swerved to miss them, but more continued flying at them like a never ending stream. The Master was throwing everything he had at them.

“We’ve got incoming,” Addams announced.

“Yeah, noticed that, thanks,” Ariel bit back sarcastically.

“You two, open fire!” The Doctor ordered, continuing to swerve the ship as he skimmed the ocean trying to avoid the missiles.

“Open fire! Come on, Wilf!” The Doctor cried.

A few seconds later, the saw one of the missiles beside them blow up. Ariel laughed and jumped up.

“Way to go, Wilf!” Ariel exclaimed.

Just then, the radar by the controls started beeping endlessly and Addams ran over to it. “And there's more,” Addams sighed. “Sixteen of them. Oh, and another sixteen.”

“Ariel, get on the rear lasers!” The Doctor yelled.

“Got it!” Ariel exclaimed and ran to the back of the ship to fire at the missiles. 

“You two, open fire! Now!” The Doctor snapped.

They three of them all destroyed missiles together and Ariel pumped her fist in the air, laughing as she destroyed three in a row.

Behind her, the front window got blown in and the Doctor and Addams dodged the impact as the glass shattered across the controls.

Eventually, the three of them had destroyed each missile they saw and Ariel grinned in pride at the clear sky before running back up to the Doctor’s side. He smiled and hugged her to his side as he stared at the fields they were approaching.

“Lock the navigation,” the Doctor instructed.

“Onto what?” Addams asked.

“England,” the Doctor said. “The Naismith mansion.”

“Doctor, you’re going really fast,” Ariel breathed. “Are you sure about this?” She asked.

The Doctor just clenched his jaw and sped up the ship.

“Doctor?” Ariel prompted.

“Destination?” The Doctor asked, ignoring her for quite possibly the first time since they started traveling together.

“Fifty kliks and closing,” Addams nodded, glancing at the Doctor warily. “We've locked on to the house. We are going to stop, though. Doctor? We are going to stop?” She asked, growing concerned after she didn’t hear him respond to Ariel.

Wilf walked up to the Doctor’s other side and frowned at him as he glanced at him and the window where the Earth was speeding by, a simple blue of green and blue.

All of them were growing anxious after the Doctor didn’t answer anybody. “Doctor? Doctor, you said you were going to die,” Wilf reminded him. 

“He said what?!” Addams snapped.

“But is that all of us?” Wilf wondered, ignoring Addams. “I won't stop you, sir,” he shook his head. 

“Neither will I,” Ariel assured him with a nod.

“But is this it?” Wilf asked.

The Doctor didn’t answer them, instead, he just sped towards them mansion and Ariel held her breath as she watched them speed towards the wall of the mansion. At the very last second, the Doctor pulled the nose up and allowed them to hover over the glass ceiling of the building.

“Get her a parachute,” the Doctor said, his voice strange. It sounded weak and thick like he was holding back tears. This was it, Ariel realized. This was where he died. She sighed softly and grabbed his hand, giving him a short nod and soft smile as Addams tossed her a parachute.

Ariel put the parachute on and the Doctor took a deep breath before pulling out the revolver and squeezing his eyes shut.

The Doctor dove through a small hatch in the floor and Ariel gave a quick smile to Wilf before doing the same.

Though she floated into the mansion through the hole the Doctor had created, she still maintained a few cuts across her face trying to fit herself and the parachute through. Nevertheless, when she hit the ground, her face was still far less scarred than the Doctor’s.

The Doctor landed on his face and she landed on her back with a groan, sitting up only slightly to place her hand behind it head and rub it roughly.

“My Lord Doctor. My Lord Master. My Lady Parsons,” a man with greying hair and an arrogant smirk nodded to each of them in turn.

Ariel barely paid attention to him, wincing as she rubbing her forehead and blood dripped across her hand.

Ariel looked back and saw the Gate had been replaced by a white space, undoubtedly Gallifrey, and five Time Lords standing before it. There were two women and two man beside the man standing at the center. The two women had their face in their hands, covered in shame.

Ariel frowned at them, they must be the people that stood by the Doctor. They probably accepted their fate when the Time Lords tried to do anything to survive their imminent death.

The man standing at the center of it all was none other than the Lord President of Gallifrey, Rassilon. He peered down at the trio as though they were all beneath him.

“We are gathered for the end,” Rassilon breathed.

Ariel and the Doctor shared a wide eyed look.

“How do you know my name?” Ariel frowned.

“Your presence was foretold,” Rassilon said. “Just as our salvation was. A new era is dawning.”

“Listen to me, you can’t!” The Doctor yelled.

“It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child,” Rassilon hummed, glaring at the Master.

“Oh, he's not saving you,” the Doctor scoffed. “Don't you realise what he's doing?” He prompted.

“Just look around the room,” Ariel sighed, clutching her forehead as she sat up properly. The Doctor immediately moved to her side and cupped her cheek delicately, peering at her wounds.

“Hey, no, hey!” The Master snapped at the couple, pressing a finger to his lips as he silently ordered them no be quiet. “That's mine. Hush. Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them, because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mister President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me,” he smirked.

In response, the Lord President didn’t speak. Instead, he just held up a large metal gauntlet on his hands and raised it, watching the humans intently. Their faces began to blur, changing them back into who they were supposed to be.

“No, no, don't. No, no, stop it! No, no, no, don't!” The Master cried, staring at all of them with wide eyes.

Once everyone was restored back to themselves, the Lord President sneered at them just as he had done with the trio, just much deeper set. Apparently, in his eyes humanity was lower than the three who were accidentally bringing on the end of time.

“On your knees, mankind,” Rassilon snapped.

Everyone obeyed, staring at the Time Lords with wide eyes that swirled between a mixture of awe and fear at their presence.

“The approach begins,” Rassilon announced.

“Approach of what?” The Master frowned.

“Oh, are you really that thick?” Ariel moaned.

“Something is returning,” the Doctor mumbled with a nod. “Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something.”

“Meaning it wasn’t you or just the Time Lords, Sherlock,” Ariel muttered, rubbing her head roughly and wiping blood from her cheek.

“What is it?” The Master asked.

“They're not just bringing back the species,” the Doctor mumbled. “It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now.”

The Earth started shaking like an earthquake that nobody knew was approaching. When Rassilon turned his back and grinned at the white space, all the other humans ran from the room screaming and crying in terror though what specifically it was directed at was a mystery. The Time Lords or the approach of Gallifrey?

“But, I did this,” the Master nodded, breathlessly. “I get the credit. I'm on your side,” he insisted.

Ariel just rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn’t care about what happened when Gallifrey came, he just wanted the appreciation and attention he craved.

Before she could snap at him, she spotted Wilf running into the locked glass booth. She inhaled sharply and hit the Doctor’s amr roughly, gesturing to Wilf taking the place of the fearful technician.

“Alright! I've got you, mate. I've got you,” Wilf assured the man as he ran out of his booth without even so much as a thank you.

“Wilf, don’t,” the Doctor sighed, wincing as he sat up as well. “Don’t!”

But it was too later, Wilf turned in the booth and smiled at the couple giving them a reassuring thumbs up as they shared a wary look. 

“Great,” Ariel mumbled sarcastically.

“But this is fantastic, isn't it?” The Master chuckled, beaming up at the Time Lords. “The Time Lords restored,” he hummed.

“It’s not just the Time Lords and Gallifrey,” Ariel shook her head. “It’s the Time War too,” she said and she could’ve sworn for a split second she saw the Master’s face fall and horror paint across it.

“You weren't there in the final days of the War,” the Doctor sighed. “You never saw what was born. But if the Timelock's broken, then everything's coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have-been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The War turned into hell. And that's what you've opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending.”

The Master clenched his jaw and threw on a stoic mask in the face of trepidation. He wore it well as he smirked up at the Lord President. “My kind of world,” the Master lied.

“That’s not a world for anybody,” Ariel murmured as she shook her head. 

“Just listen!” The Doctor snapped, smacking his hand down on the floor, not caring as the glass cut his hand open. “Because even the Time Lords can't survive that.”

“We will initiate the Final Sanction,” Rassilon said “The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart,” he grinned as if that was his great victory. The end of time comes, but it’s at his hand so it’s alright.

“That’s suicide,” the Master observed with a frown.

“That’s what you’re signing up for if you join them,” Ariel breathed.

“We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone,” Rassilon smiled, speaking as though he were to become a god by killing himself. “Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be.”

“You see now?” The Doctor sighed. “That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them.”

“They went mad in that war,” Ariel nodded.

The Master ignored the pair of them. He’d rather die among his own kind rather than live with a couple that would make him nauseous every day for the rest of eternity.

“Then, take me with you, Lord President,” the Master sighed. “Let me ascend into glory.”

Ariel rolled her eyes and bowed her head. “He’s mad,” she murmured.

“No, the Doctor mumbled, watching the Master with narrowed eyes. “He’s desperate.”

“You are diseased,” Rassilon spat. “Albeit a disease of our own making,” he shrugged. “No more,” he said, raised his metal gauntlet in the hopes of ridding the world of the Master once and for all.

Ariel and the Doctor shot up, glaring at the Lord President as the Doctor aimed his revolver right at his head.

Rassilon was so astounded by the sudden shift, he lowered his gauntlet and stared at the couple with wide eyes. He took a deep breath and clenched his jaw at the pair, desperate to change their already made up minds.

“Choose your enemy well,” Rassilon hummed. “We are many. The Master is but one,” he nodded.

“But he's the President,” the Master muttered. “Kill him, and Gallifrey could belong to the pair of you!” He exclaimed as though murdering for a planet that shouldn’t exist was some great victory.

Ariel inhaled sharply. The link was in the Master’s head. If they killed the Lord President, the Time Lords would still come. The Doctor realized that fact at the exact same time and glanced down at Ariel. She nodded and the pair spun to the Master with the Doctor aiming the gun directly at his head. Both bore the same vacant expression they had when aiming at Rassilon.

“He's to blame, not me!” The Master snapped. “Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then. Do it,” the Master nodded. 

Ariel’s heart sank at the look he met them with. It was the same look she had seen on the Doctor’s face all too many times. It was the face of a tired man. A man who had been living far too long and just wished for it to be over. She knew in that moment that there was a part of the Master who truly wanted the Doctor to pull the trigger.

The Doctor must have seen it too, because within seconds he turned back to Rassilon and aimed the gun at him.

“Exactly,” the Master nodded. “It's not just me, it's him,” he insisted. “He's the link. Kill him!” He exclaimed, much too excited at the idea of Rassilon dying by the Doctor’s hand.

“The final act of your lives is murder,” Rassilon spat as the couple as though that represented how worthless their lives really were. “But which one of us?” He wondered.

Before the Doctor could pull the trigger, a woman on Rassilon’s left side with greying hair lowered her hands and stared at the Doctor in horror.

Ariel’s heart fell into her stomach. She knew that look all too well. That was the look of a disappointed mother. It made sense why she and the other woman would stand by the Doctor and his logic in destroying Gallifrey. He was her son. However it was possible, the Doctor’s mother stood before him and she was about to watch him murder someone.

The Doctor stared at her with tears in her eyes and Ariel glanced around the room desperately. She didn’t want the Doctor to deal with that pain. Knowing the last thing his mother saw of him was killing another being. 

Ariel’s eyes widened as she spotted the Whitepoint Star the Master had rambled on about sitting in a machine behind him. Maybe, it wouldn’t break the link for good, but at least they could send Gallifrey back to where it was supposed to be.

Ariel stood up taller and relayed the information to the Doctor, whispering in his ear as his gun hand quivered, trying to aim as Rassilon.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he nodded, spinning around and pointing the gun at the Master.

The Master didn’t even have anything to say. Undoubtedly, he had seen the Doctor’s mother and didn’t have anything snarky to say to the Doctor after he spotted her. 

“Get out of the way,” the Doctor murmured.

The Master frowned, confused for a moment that the Doctor was trying to save him rather than pull the trigger. As he remembered the Whitepoint Star was behind him, his eyes widened and he ducked out of the way. 

The Doctor fired a single perfect shot at the star, knocking it out of the machine and breaking the link, sucking them back to Gallifrey.

“The link is broken,” the Doctor announced. “Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell,” he muttered, glaring at Rassilon.

“You'll die with me, Doctor,” Rassilon muttered, raising his metal gauntlet once again.

“I know,” the Doctor nodded. He closed his eyes and opened his arms, waiting for the impact and Ariel’s heart felt like it was about to pound out of her chest.

“No!” Ariel screamed.

Before Rassilon could deliver a blow, the Master stood up and rubbed his hand, sighing softly as he stared at the receding Time Lords.

“Get out of the way,” the Master instructed the couple. They had saved his life, he knew at the very least he could repay the favor.

The Doctor grabbed Ariel and jumped out of the way as the Master opened his palms and shot his energy at Rassilon, hitting the Lord President square in the chest and making him fall to his knees.

“You did this to me!” The Master bellowed, hitting Rassilon endlessly with the energy. “All of my life! You made me! One! Two! Three! Four!” He screamed.

The Master marched up to them, nearing Rassilon as he continued to hit him.

The white light sucked him as well as all the other Time Lords back to Gallifrey and back into the Time War.

The Doctor sat up with wide eyes. “I'm alive,” the Doctor gasped and Ariel grinned, resting her chin on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his abdomen. “I've. There was. I'm still alive,” he smiled.

However, before they could truly begin celebrating the Doctor’s survival, a soft knocking of four beats made their victorious smiles fall as their hearts sank.

“No,” Ariel breathed.

They both turned to see Wilf smiling kindly at them, as he always did, from behind the glass which was buzzing with radiation and bright red to alert its inhabitants to the arising danger.

“They gone, then?” Wilf guessed with a smirk. “Yeah, good-o,” he nodded. “If you could let me out?” He prompted.

Ariel inhaled sharply as the Doctor took a deep breath and stood up.

“Don’t,” Ariel murmured. “Let me,” she nodded. “I don’t know what I’d be without you. Let me take this,” she insisted.

The Doctor smiled softly and cupped her cheek. “And what would I be in a world without you?” The Doctor asked. “It’s alright,” he nodded. “Just make sure the next bloke treats you right, yeah?” He smirked humorlessly.

Ariel sniffled and choked back a sob as her vision began blurring. Numbly she nodded and the Doctor took a deep breath before stepping towards Wilf, leaving her on the ground with silent tears streaming down her face.

“This thing seems to be making a bit of a noise,” Wilf remarked, glancing around the casing with wide eyes as the buzzing rang in his head.

“The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running,” the Doctor sighed. “It's gone into overload,” he said.

“And that’s bad, is it?” Wilf implored with a raised eyebrow.

“No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there,” the Doctor said. “Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing.”

“Oh,” Wilf sighed. “Well, you'd better let me out, then,” he smirked with a small shrug.

“Except it's gone critical,” the Doctor breathed. “Touch one control and it floods. Even this would set it off,” he said, holding up his sonic screwdriver.

Ariel sniffled and looked away, wiping tears from her face as she took a shaky breath. The Doctor was too good. Too kind. She wished she could hate him for it, but it was impossible. He was going to die and she couldn’t even be mad.

“I’m sorry,” Wilf mumbled, realizing what was about to happen.

“Sure,” the Doctor scoffed. He wanted to be mad at Wilf, but more than anything he was just angry with the circumstance. He had so much left to do and there Wilf was, the kind innocent man always waiting for him. 

“Look, just leave me,” Wilf said with a small shrug. He didn’t want to watch the Doctor die for him and he certainly didn’t want to see that poor girl go through any more pain. They both deserved to be together. To live long lives, not have it cut short by an old man like him.

“Okay, right then, I will,” the Doctor sighed, though they all knew there was no truth to his words. “Because you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh yes. Because that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time,” he said, his voice cracking as he spoke.

Ariel covered her mouth and fought back sobbing loudly at the Doctor’s palpable pain.

“No really, just leave me,” Wild insisted with a wave of his hand. “I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time.”

“Well, exactly. Look at you,” the Doctor scoffed. “Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more. So much more!” He cried and Ariel knelt forward, pressing her forehead to the ground as her body shook while she cried. “But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair! Oh. Oh. I've lived too long,” he sighed and stepped toward the glass box.

“No. No, no, please, please don't. No, don't! Please don't! Please!” Wilf begged, nearly crumpling to the floor as he watched the Doctor rest his fingers on the door he was set to step into.

“Wilfred, it's my honour,” the Doctor breathed. “Better be quick. Three, two, one,” he announced and quickly stepped inside, freeing Wilf within seconds and wincing as the door locked shut behind him.

Ariel stood up, wiping tears from her cheeks as red lights flooded to the booth and the Doctor cried out in agony. Ariel knelt down beside the booth while the Doctor crumpled to the ground. 

The Doctor pressed his palm onto the glass and Ariel sobbed, pressing her forehead against the glass and placing her palm over his as the Doctor curled up in a ball and pressed his other hand on his head as pain shot through his entire body.

After a while, the power shut down and the Doctor, still shaking, remained in a small ball.

Ariel sniffled and stood up, running to the door and opening it for him. She ran over to him and helped him off the ground. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, breathing deeply as he used her as a crutch to walk.

Wilf was completely confused. That sort of radiation should’ve killed him immediately and yet it didn’t and Ariel had run in as though she knew it was safe.

“What?” Wilf breathed. “Hello.”

“Hi,” the Doctor said, his voice rough and hard to hear when he spoke to Wilf.

“Still with us?” Wilf prompted with a small smirk, thinking maybe he survived after all.

Ariel sniffled, wiping her eyes as she looked up at the Doctor who stared into the booth. 

“The system's dead. I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput,” the Doctor sighed.

“Well, there we are, then,” Wilf shrugged with a small smile. “Safe and sound,” he nodded. Mind you, the pair of you are in hell of a state,” he chuckled. “You've got some battle scars there,” he remarked, pointing at their faces.

Ariel just nodded numbly but the Doctor sighed softly and rubbed his face, rubbing away all the scars as a result.

Ariel choked back a sob at the sight but Wilf just stared up at the Doctor as though he had worked magic.

“But they've,” Wilf breathed. “Your face. How did you do that?”

The Doctor sighed softly and stared at his hands, a faint glow appearing on both of them. He took a deep breath and turned to Ariel. “It’s started,” the Doctor murmured.

Ariel swallowed her tears and stepped up to the Doctor wrapping him in a tight hug. After a few moments, Wilf joined them.

~~~

They brought Wilf back home and they all walked out to see Sylvia smiling and waving at the trio.

“Oh, she's smiling,” the Doctor sighed. He glanced down at Ariel and prayed to see a smile on her face. The last thing he wanted was the be the cause of her pain right before he left her. “As if today wasn't bad enough,” he remarked and to his delight, Ariel snickered and covered her smile with a roll of her eyes.

Ariel turned to the Doctor and punched him in the arm. “Don’t make me laugh now!” Ariel snapped, still smiling up at him.

The Doctor grinned. “Can’t have you looking upset when you’re the last face this face will see. What do you think that’ll mean for me?” He wondered.

Ariel snorted and rolled her eyes. “As vain as ever,” she murmured.

“You love it,” the Doctor chuckled, wrapping his arm around her. He glanced at Wilf with a small sigh. “Anyway, don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf. I'll see you again, one more time,” he nodded.

“What do you mean?” Wilf frowned. “When’s that?” He wondered.

“Just keep looking,” the Doctor insisted. “I'll be there,” he nodded as he and Ariel stepped back into the Tardis.

“Where are you going?” Wilf asked.

The Doctor took a deep breath and looked out at the sky. The area which he would be roaming in the hopes of one last bit of happiness before he left and was replaced by some new person that got to see everything he had missed. “To get my reward,” he mumbled.

The Doctor stepped back into the Tardis and heaved a deep sigh. “What do you say? One quick victory tour?” He prompted.

“Nah,” Ariel shook her head. “This is your victory,” she nodded. “Not mine. You should take this on your own.”

The Doctor smiled softly and wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. 

“I’ll call you when it’s time,” the Doctor mumbled.

Ariel sniffled softly and nodded into his chest. “Yeah,” she whispered, her voice cracking even as she spoke softly.

Ariel took a step away and smiled sadly at him. “I love you, she mumbled.

“I love you too,” the Doctor breathed.

She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and choked back a sob, stepping away and heading back into the Tardis before she did something stupid like cry again.

The Doctor watched her retreat sadly and stepped forward to the console. He took a deep breath and set the coordinates for the first destination.

~~~

The Doctor went to all his friends. All those who held a great impact on him throughout his time wearing that face.

He visited Mickey and Martha first. Mickey had heeded Ariel’s advice and spent time with Martha, eventually convincing her to go into freelancing and consequently marrying the woman. They were both happier than ever.

Afterward, he visited Sarah and her son Luke one last time. He saved Luke from being hit by a car and left granting them nothing but a simple wave. Sarah cried as she watched him walk into his Tardis, knowing it was time once again for him to change his face and for that man to leave them forever.

He visited the alien bar where Jack had protected Ariel and found him there once again sitting beside none other than Alonso, the man the Doctor had met briefly on the Titanic. The Doctor smirked and decided to do one last favor for Jack. He wrote down Alonso’s name on a sheet of paper and gave it to the bartender, nodding to Jack. 

When Jack received the note, he smiled at the Doctor who simply waved in return. Jack inhaled sharply. It was time. He sat up straighter and saluted the Doctor, a silent thanks for all that man had done for him. The Doctor nodded and headed back into the Tardis as Jack turned with a smirk to Alonso.

The Doctor’s next stop was for a book from the woman he had once loved when he was human. He hoped the next face still cared about her the way he had and took the time to read it.

The Doctor knew afterward that he had to stop by and see Wilf and Donna one more time, even if Donna could never see him. He decided to stop by on her wedding day, but before he did so, he decided to stop and borrow a quid off Geoffrey Noble. The man would probably like to be able to give his daughter a wedding present when he couldn’t be there in person.

After he saw the Noble family one last time, he stopped by a young girl along in a library. 

The Tardis wheezed into existence and a young Ariel Parsons, no older than sixteen sat up and frowned at the sound.

While a part of her mind told her she should get up and investigate, she shook her head and discarded the thought. It was probably a leaf blower just outside and she was too immersed to get up from her book.

There was a soft creaking from the Tardis door and the Doctor stepped outside, remaining concealed in the shadows of the bookshelves as he watched Ariel read.

The Doctor cleared his throat and she looked up at him with a soft smile. “Hi,” Ariel nodded.

“Hi,” the Doctor sighed, wincing as regeneration energy began to burn his chest. “What are you reading?”

“Queen Victoria in her letters and journals,” Ariel said, holding up the book with a nod but not taking her eyes off it. “She’s incredible.”

The Doctor smiled softly. “Yeah, she is,” he sighed. “If you don’t mind me asking, what year is this?”

Ariel looked up with a small frown. “2006.”

The Doctor nodded. So she was sixteen. Two years until they met. “Keep your head up,” the Doctor muttered. “Things’ll get better,” he assured her.

Ariel narrowed her eyes at the strange man. “How can you possibly know that?” She wondered.

“Just trust me,” the Doctor nodded. “As I believe Queen Victoria herself said, ‘Oh, that peace may come’,” the Doctor hummed.

Ariel frowned, but the Doctor said nothing more as he trudged off to his Tardis and made one final stop. The Powell Estate.

He visited Rose at the very beginning of 2005 and assured her she would have a great year. When she said goodbye and headed back home, the Doctor turned to the Tardis with a soft sigh.

The regeneration energy was burning through him making it difficult to walk, let alone get back to his Tardis. He trudged through the snow, breathing heavily. He wondered if he cried out loud enough, Ariel would find him and help. He needed her with him when it all ended.

The Doctor tripped in the snow and fell forwards, his body aching too much to even gain the energy he required to get to his feet.

Like a blessing, the Tardis door creaked open and Ariel glanced around with a small frown before she laid eyes upon the Doctor.

“Oh, my God!” Ariel cried and ran to him.

“Help me,” the Doctor groaned, those two little words being all he could force out of his mouth as she trudged through the snow to him.

Ariel helped him to his feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulders so he could use her as a crutch to walk.

As they headed back to the Tardis, in the distance, Ood Sigma stood calmly watching the scene.

“We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep,” Ood Sigma said and around Ariel and the Doctor, the Ood sang.

Ariel smiled sadly as she listened to their song for the Doctor. She opened the door for him and helped him inside. 

“Come on,” Ariel breathed. She shut the door behind them and helped him to the console.

The Doctor collapsed onto the console and frantically set the Tardis going as his breathing grew heavy.

Ariel took a deep breath and walked up to him. She cupped his cheek and he held onto her hand as the last bit of contact he would receive before the new Doctor took her away.

“I just want to say that if it weren’t for this face, I would still feel worthless,” Ariel shrugged. “Thank you for making me feel really special,” she nodded. “Thank you for giving me a home.”

“Thank you for the same,” the Doctor nodded.

Ariel smiled softly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m gonna let you do this for yourself. I love you, but this is all your own,” she said.

The Doctor nodded and wrapped her in a tight hug, clinging to her desperately in the hopes that she could somehow change his future.

“Hey,” Ariel sighed as she pulled away. “It’ll be okay. The second you need me I’m here. Just tell me if you want me.”

The Doctor nodded numbly. “I’m scared. I’m so scared,” he said, his lower lip trembling as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

Ariel closed her eyes and fought back tears of her own as she looked up to the Doctor and pressed her lips softly against his. 

“I love you,” Ariel sighed. She grabbed the Doctor’s hand and squuezed tightly.

The Doctor took a shaky breath and squeezed her hand back. “I love you too.”

Ariel nodded, unable to speak without sobbing and begging him not to leave her with some man she didn’t know. She took a deep breath and walked out, into the Tardis library, wiping the tears from her eyes as she allowed the Doctor to let go.

The Doctor stared down at his glowing hands as he allowed the burning to envelop his entire body. “I don’t wanna go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of this series coming soon! Stay tuned! I'm sorry this was a bit later, I was procrastinating writing Ten's death for hopefully understandable reasons.
> 
> I just wanna say real quick that Ariel was created literally because through the start of season four in all the moments I saw the Doctor lonely, I just wanted somebody to be there for him. Somebody that understood his pain and brightened up his life when his Doctor was at some of the loneliest periods of his life and facing some of the saddest companion departures. If I'm honest, I didn't expect her to get so much positive feedback so quickly. I didn't even know if she was a likable OC, all I knew was that I really wanted to write her. Maybe for my own peace of mind, maybe just because I feel like at the very end, Ten deserved to have somebody there with him. Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed this story and I can't wait to start posting Ariel Parsons meeting the Eleventh Doctor!


End file.
